Did you know that you are a miracle?

Say out loud with me, “I am a miracle!”

How about one more time for good measure, with a big smile, “I am a miracle!”

Yes!  Yes, you are my dear.  You are precious and beautiful miracle.

Do you know what it means to be a miracle?

The first definition the word miracle offered by Webster.com is “an unusual or wonderful event that is believed to be caused by the power of God.”  It is just wonderful that Webster.com still credits God for miracles.

I know I reference this verse often, but I can not help going back to it again.  Psalm 139:13-14, “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.”

God created you.  God created me.  Anything God places His hand upon and brings forth by His power is a miracle.  Our creation, being knit together in our mothers’ wombs is a miracle.  You are a miracle!  I am a miracle!

Do you notice how David says in the Psalm, “I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

Do you ever praise God for making you who you are?

Allow me to be vulnerable with you for a moment and admit that this is a huge struggle for me.  I spend large amounts of time condemning and tearing myself down with my words, but especially with my thoughts.  Basically, I belittle this miracle that God has created.

I am really good at criticizing myself.  I start with what I believe to be wrong with me on the outside.  I am fat.  I am ugly.  I have stretchmarks.  My hips are wide and curvy.  My nose seems a bit off, it’s not one of those cute button noses.  My eyes aren’t big enough, they do not draw attention well.  My smile is a bit crooked.

That’s really just the tip of the iceberg, because then I move to criticizing my insides.  I am impatient.  I am undisciplined.  I wish I had a better attitude more often.  I am a horrible leader.  I say stupid things.  I make dumb mistakes repeatedly.  I just can not learn.  I need to communicate better.  I am selfish.  I am falling behind because I am not good enough.  I say yes too often for all the wrong reasons.  I am weak mentally and well as physically.  I break under pressure.  I have no creative talent.  I am not artistic.

This is not a conclusive list.  I would be truly terrified to see what that looked like.  Hopefully you get the idea.

In the end, I can get to the point very easily where I truly believe that I am worthless.  I can feel as though I am this rejected mass that must be a mistake.

But, that is not the truth.  That is a bunch of lies that I have bought into and repeated, which I use to crown myself the Pity Princess on the Pity Pony who gallops through pity puddles all day long.

Perhaps as you read through my list and thought you are not as bad as I am.  Or maybe you thought the opposite, that your list would put mine to shame.

Either way, we all need to be reminded that is not who were are.  It is not who we were meant to be.

YOU ARE A MIRACLE!  I AM A MIRACLE!

We were designed by the hand of a mighty, powerful and all knowing God.  We live in a broken and sin filled world.   Because I have Christ, I am not stuck in my sin and brokenness.  2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”  

I admit that I still struggle.  I have problems that continue to plague me, struggles that I battle with every single day.  Some days I make progress, other days I hold my ground and some I seem to suffer defeat frequently falling back great distances.  Why this is the way it is, I have no answer for.

What I do know is that God is near to those who call out to Him.  He sends help, comfort, encouragement and signs of love in the craziest ways and His perfect timing.  He cares about each and everyone one of us.  It was His power that brought each of us into being; not because He had to, but because He wanted to. He brought you forth as a miracle.  He rolled up his sleeve to tenderly pull together every tiny detail about who you are.

Maybe all of us are a miracles in progress.  Perhaps what we think of as our creation and being born into this time and place wasn’t the end of the miracle, but was really just the beginning of the work; step one if you will.  It could be that the unusual or wonderful event caused by the power of God is our lives in their entirety from that first breath to the last.

What ever the case may be, this is still true.

You are a precious gift.

You are a beautiful treasure.

You are a miracle.

We should praise God for creating us.  So I am praising God for YOU and I am praising God for ME.

Dearest and Beloved Lord,

Thank you so much for making us all miracles by Your hand.  Lord, I apologize for all of the times that I belittle myself and criticize the way I am.  Remind me that I am a work in progress and that You are not finished with me yet.  Lord, there is so much I do not understand this is especially true of me being a miracle.  I can not fathom that some days.

Please help all of us to rest in Your truths.  Build our confidence in them.  Help us to claim them in our lives and to walk boldly because of them.  Help us to reach out to You for the comfort and reassurance when we need it.  Please place others in our lives who will remind us as well.  

May we be brought to a place where we will praise You for who You made us to be, for who you are making us to be.  When we do not understand, may we still trust in You.  For You have done great and wondrous things, so much of which we can not imagine.  But we can praise you, even for that which we don’t understand.  

Thank You God.  Thank You so much for each dear and precious miracle whose lives are entwined with my own.  You are amazing God.

In Jesus’ beloved name, amen.