"I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well"
I will give thanks to You
It is absolutely crucial that we stop emphasizing what we think is wrong with us and where we don't measure up and give thanks for the strengths, talents, and abilities that we have. Realize that God has designed you for His purpose. He had something in mind when He put the ingredients together that became you. An attitude of gratitude is so important. God, thank you for how you have made me and the abilities you have given me. I want to thank you for how my body works. I want to thank you for the impulses, the inclinations, and proclivities that I have. It is not a mistake that I like what I like and that I am interested in what I am interested in.
It is important to realize how marvelous our body is in its construction. Take the time to marvel at the wonder of a self-contained, self-healing, error-correcting, soul-connecting body that you have been given. Even some who have problems with their body are still alive and have an amazing mechanism even though parts of it may be broken. Stand in front of a mirror and praise God for the body and soul He gave you. Thank Him for the interests, talents, abilities, and gifts that He gave you.
Stop and take the time right now to give God praise for you – your talents, strengths, interests, body, abilities, spiritual gifts. Actually stop and do this. Tell God you are thankful for His giving you _______________ and giving you _____________________.
for I am fearfully and wonderfully made
It is important to realize that you are a wonder. It is beyond modern science to completely understand, let alone replicate, your body. Both your body and your soul are wonders. We are so used to them that we overlook the miracle that is our body. It has trillions and trillions of cells operating as a coordinated unit with a self-correcting, self-replicating code and the internal mechanism to grow itself and repair itself and fight off dangers.
The place that our soul inhabits is absolutely amazing. There is an exercise in the self-help literature in which you are to look at yourself and proclaim that you are marvelous. This is unwise but it is the highest kind of wisdom to praise God for your body, your life, your abilities, your skills, your weakness and non-strengths. We do not worship ourselves, but we worship God the creator and architect of our body and the space that our body inhabits in the universe.
You and I have been amazingly designed to live, move, choose, and glorify God in this space we inhabit. We were made to accomplish something in our lives that will be God-honoring. It may not be noticed by the world around us, but it will be noticed by God, the eternal reference point.
Celebrate the wonder of your hands, your feet, arms, heart, brain, lungs, etc. These all work. This is a temporary housing for our eternal soul so that our soul can be present in this four-dimensional universe. We are not a soul that inhabits a body, but our bodies in some way are a part of who we are. They define us, they limit us, they direct us, they tell us who we are to be.
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz