Psalm 139:13-14 (CEB)

13 You are the one who created my innermost parts;
    you knit me together while I was still in my mother’s womb.
14 I give thanks to you that I was marvelously set apart.
    Your works are wonderful—I know that very well.

Reflection

So far, 2020 has been really tough! We feel like we’re on an emotional roller coaster. It’s an election year with all the divisiveness that comes with it. Add to that the fear of the pandemic, the struggle for social justice, and more natural disasters than we can count, and it’s not hard to understand that we feel alone, fearful, and disconnected. To compound our situation, we decide we can “fix it” and we set impossible goals in our attempt to control the uncontrollable. We set ourselves up to fail. When we feel like we’ve failed, we need to turn to scripture to remember whose we are.

Whose are we? We are the beloved children of God! God is our Creator. God loves us and created us in God’s own image, and each of us is unique in the universe. God knows us. God knew everything about us before we were born, even the number of hairs on our head. God endowed us with all the gifts and graces that we would grow into and use for the work of God’s Kin(g)-dom. God loves us. We were created to love God and love others. And when we failed and were lost in sin, God sent Jesus to die for us, because God loves us enough to believe we are worth dying for and saving for eternal life. When you feel overwhelmed or you’re being too hard on yourself, remember, you are a child of God wonderfully made.

By Jeneene Reduker

For Pondering & Prayer

There is such joy, peace and gratitude in knowing God knows you completely and loves you in spite of everything! Each of us are marvelously set apart by God and we need to treat each other as children of God, miracles of creation.

Have you been hard on yourself lately? Are you finding it hard to forgive yourself? Sometimes we don’t feel like beloved children of God, but that is who you are through Jesus Christ. Feel secure in God’s love and know you are wonderfully made to grow and do God’s will.

Prayer: Loving Creator, sometimes we forget we are your children, and that you know us and all our struggles. Refresh us with your love, and remind us when we forget, that we are wonderfully made to do the work of your Kin(g)-dom. Amen.