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There are things about ourselves we gladly let others see. There are other things we work very hard to keep hidden. But what happens when we become so focused on what is wrong with us that we lose sight of what is right? Perhaps we need to look at ourselves from a different perspective. Please read more.

There is a remarkable passage in Psalm 139 that begins, “O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.” (Psalm 139:1b–3)

Over the last several years, as I have worked in addiction recovery ministry, I have constantly reminded those in recovery that despite their addictions, they are fearfully and wonderfully made. Too often, they become laser-focused on their faults, failures, and shortcomings. Their struggle can become the lens through which they see their entire lives. Eventually, instead of thinking, “I am a child of God who struggles with an addiction,” they can begin to think, “My addiction is who I am.”

But this applies to far more than addiction. How many of us allow some weakness, sin, failure, physical limitation, regret, or painful chapter of our lives to become the defining story of who we are?

Psalm 139 offers us a different perspective. God knows the complete you—not simply the version you allow other people to see. He knows your hopes and disappointments, your strengths and weaknesses, your generosity and selfishness, your courage and fears. He knows every temptation, every sin, every failure, and every secret. Nothing about you has ever surprised Him.

And still the psalmist writes, “For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” (Psalm 139:13)

I love that image: You knit me together. Knitting is deliberate. Stitch follows stitch, each becoming part of something larger. The finished creation doesn’t simply happen. Someone is behind it. Scripture tells us the same thing about you and me.

Then come the familiar words: “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.” (Psalm 139:14)

I want to be clear about something I also tell those in recovery. Saying that we are fearfully and wonderfully made does not let them off the hook. It does not excuse addiction, sin, destructive choices, or behaviors that hurt them or others. Let’s face it, all Christians are called to change, repent, grow, and cooperate with God’s grace. But perspective matters.

There is a tremendous difference between believing, “I have things in my life that need to change,” and believing, “There is something fundamentally wrong with me.” One gives us something to work on. The other can rob us of hope.

Perhaps this is why we need Psalm 139.

In what ways do you see how you were fearfully and wonderfully made?

That question may be harder to answer than it first appears. We are often much better at identifying what we dislike about ourselves than recognizing God’s handiwork within us. We compare our bodies, personalities, intelligence, accomplishments, families, careers, possessions, and even our spiritual lives with those of others. Before long, instead of seeing ourselves as wonderfully made, we see a collection of shortcomings.

What has God placed within you that is good? Perhaps it is compassion, humor, creativity, perseverance, tenderness, courage, patience, or the ability to listen. Maybe you can teach, build, organize, repair, encourage, comfort, serve, or simply sit beside someone who is hurting. These things are easy to overlook because they are so much a part of who we are.

Psalm 139 tells us, “My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.” (Psalm 139:15) Before we were born, God knew every part of us. He knew the gifts we would develop and the weaknesses with which we would struggle. He knew the victories we would celebrate and the times we would fall flat on our faces.

So perhaps our challenge is to hold two truths together. We must never stop working on the things that need to change, but we should never allow those things to convince us that they are all we are.

We must stay focused on the good while working to overcome the shortcomings.

I invite you to listen to the song I recently wrote. Click below.

Today, spend a few quiet minutes with Psalm 139 and ask yourself: What do these words mean to me? In what ways am I fearfully and wonderfully made? Have I become so focused on what is wrong with me that I have forgotten what God has made right?

God already knows the whole story. Maybe it’s time that each of us learns to see the whole story too.

Heavenly Father, You have searched me and You know me. You know my gifts and my shortcomings, my victories and my failures. Help me honestly confront those things in my life that need to change without losing sight of the person You created me to be. Teach me to see myself and others through Your eyes, always remembering that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Amen.

AMDG

AMDG is a Latin abbreviation for “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam,” which means “For the Greater Glory of God.”

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Brian Pusateri

Brian is a Christian author and speaker. Brian, a lifelong Catholic, felt his life was forever changed when God spoke to his heart while attending an eight day silent Christian retreat in November of 2011. Soon after that retreat Brian founded 4th Day Letters and Broken Door Ministries. With the God inspired message of mercy and unconditional love that was placed on his heart during that retreat, Brian has been impacting others all over the country and around the world with his weekly letters, his talks, and his all day Christian retreats. In June of 2014, Brian’s life was again impacted in a very dramatic way when his eyesight suddenly became permanently impaired. The initial diagnosis was Multiple Scleroses (MS) but in December of 2019 the diagnosis was corrected to MOG antibody disease, a rare neurological disease. This health challenge has only served to draw Brian closer to God and bolster the importance of this timely yet ageless message.

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