Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

“We are women of a different status,

this world we will impact.

We are women of a different status,

31 to be exact”.

“But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things” (John 14:26).

The anorexia that nearly took my life began, and got worse and seemingly uncontrollable, through the lies and confusion that plagued my mind.   Even at my lowest weight, I was convinced that I needed to carry on the obsessive behaviours that were killing me.  It wasn’t until I realised that it was the devil’s plan to destroy my life and relationships through those lies that I was able to recover through the power of God’s truth and love,

John 8:44 says that “the devil…was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies”.  Whatever is good, the devil wants to destroy it. Using lies he will try to convince you that God can’t help you, even that God is not real.  Perhaps he will tell you that you are unlovable or that you will never recover, trying to push you to exercise just that little bit harder and eat a little bit less until you are no more than skin and bones.

But regardless of what the voice in your head is telling you, what the world tells you, what the media says, or what those closest to you are saying, the truth is that God is real.  His love is everlasting and immeasurable, and He is able to heal you and give you a life of freedom from the bondage of eating disorders.  His Holy Spirit is ready, willing and waiting to strengthen you and teach you all about God’s plan and love for you.  You are safe in His hands, “for God is not the author of confusion, but of peace” (I Corinthians 14:33).

God will never lie to you or belittle you, for He is not a God of wickedness but one of love. He doesn’t want your every waking moment to be filled with self-destructive thoughts, but with joy and peace.  His deepest desire is communion with you because you are His beloved, because you are worth so much to Him.  Don’t believe all the lies that bring destruction, hate, or self-loathing into your life.  Trust in God, for He offers something much better: an abundant, peace-filled life, filled with hope and the promise of everlasting life.

 For those that want closer intimacy with God, I recommend the book, ‘The Secret Place’, by Dr. Dale Fife.

I also recommend a listen of this song by Kirk Franklin, Imagine Me

“O Lord, you have searched me and you know me” (Psalm 139:1).

 The truth is that God is crazily in love with you. This is not the kind of love that we understand or relate to.  The love we feel for our fellow human beings is often conditional and it can become jaded through life’s circumstances and events.  God’s love is something else.  He doesn’t get tired of searching us out and loving us, no matter what.  He understands the walls we build around ourselves, and loves us enough to stick around and help us take the bricks away one at a time, if we let Him.

“O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord” (Psalm 139:1-4).

God knows everything about you.  Every evil thought or action, every good deed done in secret…God’s Spirit is there. Through the joy, and even in the toughest and bleakest times of our lives, His presence is with us: “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there” (Psalm 139:7-8).

Because of God’s vast love, He will go to any lengths to bring a lost, broken or weary sheep back into His arms.  From the depths of despair, He will seek you out with His presence:

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.  Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:3-7).

God knows what you are going through and is concerned with you and your recovery.  When you are tired and don’t think you have the strength to take any more, He will put you on His shoulders and carry you through it.  He wants you to feel His love and presence and know the truth about who you are in Him.  He wants you to know that you are not an accident, but you were planned and intricately created: “for you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well” (Psalm 139:13-14).  He wants you to know that you are precious. “You’re not good enough…You’ll never become anything…you’re stupid…nobody will ever love you” are just some of the lies that we may be told.  But the truth is that God has a wonderful plan for your life and His thoughts towards you outnumber the grains of sand (Psalm 139:16-18).

God knows you.  God loves you.  He is with you at every step.  His Spirit is always there to comfort you.  He is there to carry you.  His love for you won’t become tired.

“The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no-one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:28-31). 

“God created man in His own image” (Genesis 1:27). 

With the images and messages delivered daily before our eyes and ears by newspapers, magazines, television programmes, films, music, advertisements and so on, it is little wonder that many people suffer with low self-esteem.  The media projects an unrealistic ideal for both men and women to aim for in terms of their physical attractiveness.  Plastic surgery, cosmetics, body-building formulas, fake tan, hair extensions and diet plans are celebrated as the answer to our insecurities and the solution to looking like the latest glossy or handsome celebrity.  Our culture teaches us to ridicule and be disgusted with so-called physical imperfections and use whatever means we can to fix them.  With our modern computer technology we can even edit images of ourselves into the mould we desire.

But the Word of God speaks a different message to that of the world, and for those who believe in it the struggle for self-acceptance is a battle that can be won.  It is the devil’s lie that you are worthless, inferior, ugly, abnormal, or whatever falsehood he throws at you.  When we study and meditate on God’s Word then the truth of how He intricately created us and loves us will set us free from the bondage of low self-esteem.

God created us in His own image (Genesis 1:27, Genesis 5:1-2) therefore we should not condemn, criticise or have disbelief in the magnificent beauty that He created in us.  God in His glory, splendour and power did not create a mistake.  Every one of us is a MASTERPIECE of the most High God: “you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:13-14).  The shape of your body was crafted by the Lord, and the colour of your skin and each mark was designed for His pleasure; it is pleasing in His sight (Genesis 1:31).  And what’s more, God himself breathed the very life into you through His Holy Spirit (Genesis 2:7, Job 33:4).  It is God who made you, and I, and we belong to Him (Psalm 100:3).  Appreciate the wonder He made in you and keep sacred the body that He made for you (1 Corinthians 6:20).

Perhaps others have used words that have discouraged you or made you feel unloved.  It may be that you have been mocked because you don’t fit into the world’s vision of beauty.  Whatever anguish you are experiencing or baggage you are carrying, know that you are precious in God’s sight and His thoughts towards you are innumerable (Psalm 139:17-18).  Whenever you are tempted to feel downcast and worthless, quote the scriptures about how fearfully and wonderfully you are made.  Even if you have to repeat it ten, fifty, one hundred, or even more times a day, do not stop proclaiming the truth.

You are loved. You are beautiful. You are precious.You are fearfully and wonderfully made!