I doubt my teacher could fathom the impact of her words on my 14 year old heart. My heart sunk as she restated the text in my biology book, “It takes only one of a man’s sperm to fertilize a woman’s egg to make a baby. However, when the fertilization process takes place there are nearly 100 million sperm that race to reach the egg. The chance that the one sperm that connected with the one egg to create YOU, was approximately 100,000,000 to 1 – because another sperm could have swam a little faster and then you wouldn’t have been created.” (My apologies for the biology lesson but it’s important to my point…)
The words resonated… I was a fluke.
Defeated, I scanned the room, wondering how my classmates were taking this devastating news. To my surprise, boredom covered their faces. No one seemed disturbed. No one flinched. Not one. There was no noticeable reaction from any of my classmates. They seemed to take in these facts like any other biology lesson.
Yet, my thoughts swirled as the “what if’s” presented themselves.
What if one sperm had swam a little faster? What if my parents hadn’t been intimate on that particular day? What if…. The list continued. I wrestled with the thought that by one miniscule change of events – I would not have been born. Or maybe I would have been born someone else – (I’m not sure how that would work!)
That biology lesson confirmed what I already knew; I was a chance, a mistake.
Thinking back, I wonder if Mrs. Anderson really said those words, but that was what my adolescent mind heard. If not for one sperm racing incredibly fast I wouldn’t exist! There was no fate. There was no great purpose for my existence. Just the final outcome of a race that any sperm/egg combination could have won.
It wasn’t until years later in my early 20’s that I heard a completely different message. As I sat listening to another teacher, my heart lifted. Our little bible study group sat in a circle listening as Frankie, the leader, led us to Psalm 139, in the bible. As she read the words aloud, they washed over my wounded heart like ointment on a fresh cut:
For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139: 13-16 NIV
My heart skipped a beat as I re-read the words. God said he “knit me together in my mother’s womb.” A weight fell and my heart lightened as I read God’s love letter to me. That night God revealed that he considered me. I wasn’t a fluke! In fact, he knit me together intentionally – I was well thought out. My broken heart and questions about my existence began to heal. And as I looked through God’s word, I saw more verses that painted a beautiful tapestry of God’s purpose to create each one of us.
Like me, you were God’s idea.
Imagine: He knit you together in your mother’s womb. Uniquely you!
A Minute to Meditate
Meditating on what it means to be a child of God is not only receiving the gift of salvation (and being “born again” into his kingdom), but receiving the gift of you. You, who God uniquely made. A child, for the Lord God Almighty to call his own. A son or daughter to treasure and nurture, and groom.
As a child of the Most High God:
We are favored: Zephaniah 3:17, Psalm 84:11
We are nurtured: Hebrew 12: 5-11
We are deeply loved: John 3:16
We are cared for: Romans 8:28, Matthew 10:30
We have constant protection & provision: Philippians 4:19, Romans 8:32
We have unlimited access to our Daddy, Abba Father: Isaiah 65:24,
We have intimacy with our Heavenly Father: Jeremiah 33:3, John 15:4-6
We have a Father that walks with us and wants a personal relationship with us: John 5:39-40
Having the right to “become a child of God” is an intimate relationship with a Father who loves you more intensely, more profoundly, and more genuinely than your human mind can conceive.
When you receive the Lord Jesus as your savior and yield your life to Him, you have a Daddy that watches over you, a Daddy who cares deeply about every one of your concerns, a Dad who will counsel you and love you and never ever leave you. AMEN! Rejoice in that!
Who else will love you this deeply?
Take a minute to meditate on the magnitude of your relationship with your heavenly Father.
Cheryl says
Beautifully written!
welcomeheart says
It’s when I don’t take a minute to meditate that everything else gets messed up! Thank you. (:
Char G. says
So true! Thanks for stopping by Sue!
Lesley says
This is beautiful! It’s such a comforting reminder to know that God designed and created us and that we have a purpose. So important to remember who we are in him. Visiting from Glimpses.
Char G. says
Thanks for stopping by Lesley! We all have important roles – Yay!!
Wings of Faith says
I am truly blessed to read your story! I am created for a purpose. I am God’s idea! Wow!
Char G. says
Yes you are!!
Wings of Faith says
I am truly blessed to read your story! I am created for a purpose. I am God’s idea! Wow!
Char G. says
Yes you are!!