Wonderfully ComplexSample

WONDERFULLY COMPLEX

The New Living Translation of Psalm 139:14 captures the psalmist thanking God for making us “wonderfully complex.”

For many, this may sound like an oxymoron. The reason is that we see complex emotions as anything other than wonderful.

The truth of the matter is that we were made in the image of God, whose emotion is even more complex than ours. Isaiah 49:15-17 says that God’s emotion is even stronger than a mother's. This is an incredibly liberating truth to ponder around the complexity of His love for us. God is also a jealous God. Another complex emotion that is rooted in a fierce love that is actually extravagant in its complexity.

Feeling intense emotions is not something we should feel ashamed about. Remember shame is an identity-crippling emotion that is triggered due to separation from God. However, the truth is that God has uniquely made each one of us just the way we are.

Instead of using the phrase "wonderfully complex," the King James Version uses the phrase “fearfully and wonderfully made.”

The word fearfully is “Yaw-ray” which means to stand in awe, be awed in reverence, and have honor & respect.

The word wonderfully is the word “Paw-lay” which means to be distinctly marked out, to be distinguished, to be set apart, to show a difference, to show how marvelously & to be made wonderfully.

In other words, each one of us has been distinctly marked out and set apart. That one should stand in awe and reverence of you because of your value. The bottom line is this: our value is rooted in knowing the intimate effort invested in you by God has knit you together. The more we understand the significance of this truth, the less we will ever feel the potential of shame knocking at our identity door, despite any failure or mess-ups we have made. This leads to liberated living and embracing our wonderful complexity.

PRAY:

Lord, thank you for making me wonderfully complex. May my emotion never cause me to turn away from you, but always lean in towards you. Thank you that I am never too much for you. Help me grasp the sheer delight you have for me. Amen.