Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

I am fearfully and wonderfully made

— Psalm 139:14

I was a student chaplain at a teaching hospital.

Walking briskly to a meeting, I said something to the kidney transplant surgeon who had befriended me about the long list of medical issues many patients seem to have brought with them.

He laughed, slowed down long enough to turn and look at me and got serious again.

“Oh.  I thought you were joking,” he said as he resumed our usual walking-race pace.

He explained that by the time most people became patients at that medical center, they’d already had several surgeries.   Each one, especially exploratory surgeries, would find internal organs and systems not fully functioning.

Those were doing enough to keep working, but at a diminished capacity.  Once found and noted, however, they became part of the patient’s medical history. 

“It’s amazing how well we’re put together,” he concluded.  “But aren’t there some Bible verses somewhere about that?  And why am I the one telling you about the Bible?”

Psalm 139;14 is one of those Bible verses.  It says, I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Let’s spend some time with that.  See you back here soon, and meanwhile let’s you and me be thankful that we’re put together as well as we are.