Fearfully And Wonderfully Made

For so many people, the holidays can be such an emotional and trying time. Some have lost loved ones. Others have been hurt on some level by family or friends, making it difficult to participate in the normal holiday fanfare. For some, the thought of approaching Thanksgiving and Christmas brings on a gamut of stress and anxiety. What with all the preparation and shopping, planning and finances...it's simply overwhelming. Even if you haven't dealt with a loss or some kind of hurt, for some...it's just an emotional time.


My husband Chris has a great saying. "Feelings aren't good or bad...they just are." Why is it then, that our tendency as humans is to feel bad for feeling? Maybe you've heard someone say, "Is it wrong that I feel this way?" I hear people say that quite often. I've even heard myself saying it on occasion. Is it wrong that I feel this way? How on earth do you answer that question? How about this. "No, it's not wrong that you feel that way...it's just bad."

O.K., maybe that's not the best response. But that fact remains. We feel. Feelings just are.

Take for instance sadness. Some of us feel sadness more than others. You may not even need a reason to be sad, you just are.

How about depression. How many of us have struggled with it? In all honesty most of us have. It pulls you down and holds your heart captive. For some, that captivity is so familiar, it's easier to stay there than to try to escape it.

And then the feeling of being overwhelmed. The pressures of life. Your job, family, friends. Financial pressures abound for so many of us these days. I hate to break the news, but I just don't foresee money problems getting any better in these last days. It all can overwhelm.

Not to mention frustration, anger and regret. I'm sure I'm not remembering every single emotion a person can feel. Just thinking about it all can make me sad, depressed, overwhelmed, frustrated, angry, and regretful.

Now hold on. There is a light at the end of this post. There is One who is well aware of every emotion we could ever emote, and every feeling we could ever feel.

In Psalm 139:14, David proclaims,

"I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well."

Fearfully and wonderfully made. Those words so speak of God's love and control. Yet I can't begin to comprehend the depths He went to, in order to form my very being. I mean sometimes I have feelings and emotions that I can't even put a name or face to. But, HE CAN. The One who formed me...fearfully and wonderfully made me.

Verses 15-16 of Psalm 139 go on to say,

"My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them."

Oh ya, and verses 17-18,

"How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You."

For goodness sake, just read the entire Psalm. Every bit of it. Over and over again.

The truth of the matter is, we are emotional beings. We feel. Sometimes we feel too much. Some of us feel more than others. Fearfully and wonderfully, we are who God made us to be. We live in a fallen world that doesn't always play fair...especially with our emotions.

During those times when feelings and emotions run thick, let the Word of God be the sword that cuts through it all, and enables you to put a name and face to what you're feeling. As we read and seek Him in His word, emotions are expressed and heard loud and clear. As a matter of fact...all of them. I need to know that I can find the Lord in everything I feel and experience.

Psalm 61:1-3; Psalm 73:24-26; Ephesians 6:10-18;
2Corinthians 10:4-5; James 1:2-4

...and so much more


"God's Word has sustained me. There have been times when I have only been capable of reading a few verses at a time, yet the supernatural, life-giving power of the Word of God has given me strength to go on, even if only one day at a time."

-Anne Graham Lotz


Just as a side note. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Natalie's boyfriend's family came to stay with us for a couple days, along with our sweet friend, Rachel, from Napa. Many others from church came to eat with us on Thursday. What a blessing to have our home filled with the family of God. As for my "Green Bean Junk". For all of you who have been asking what that is, I'll give up the secret. It's the green bean casserole recipe found on the fried onion can. There, now you all know.

Also, I did end up getting pretty sick the day after Thanksgiving. Apparently, though she doesn't want to admit it, Natalie brought back a bug from China.








Don't feel bad, sweetie...you got to go to China!