Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

We talk a lot about healing. Often we seem to be asking God for ‘supernatural’ healing. This is beyond what we would normally, humanly, expect. It’s beyond ‘natural’, in other words, ‘supernatural’. When it happens, we’re thrilled with what God has done. Maybe He’s intervened in something which seemed terrible, and made the person better. We praise and thank Him.

Many ailments are, however, self healing, because this restoration is part of the original blueprint for our bodies. God made us in His image, fearfully and wonderfully, according to the psalmist. Indeed we are the peak of His creation. He made us in the secret place before we were born. We were ‘knit together in our mother’s womb’. This is such a lovely picture.

In that physical creation He knitted in the most amazing ‘natural’ healing mechanisms. For instance, God built into the system a sticking plaster far better than any man-made dressing. It’s called a scab. It forms, protects, and falls off when the miracle of regeneration has happened underneath.

Recently I’ve had a couple of relatively minor accidents which have caused me to think and marvel, as I’ve watched the gradual restoration, from quite severe bruising back to normal. The blood system knows exactly what to send to the site of an injury to ‘plug the hole’, or to fight the germs, without us even seeing it happen.

It is so easy for us to take for granted these mechanisms that God has built into our bodies, that leap into action every time we scratch or bruise ourselves, have a sore throat or a cold.

Next time you say “Ow!” thank Him for the amazing systems He’s built into your body. He made the physical part of who you are, how you work, and how you’re naturally healed. Let’s be constantly thankful for His wonderful creation, and its maintenance.

When more serious things go wrong, let’s be thankful for the medical profession. With their God-given skill and knowledge, they aid these natural processes, often through using chemical and surgical means. But perhaps there’s less difference between the natural and the supernatural than we sometimes think.

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for the incredible mystery and detailed beauty of how You’ve created my body (as well as my soul and spirit) to express You. Thank You that You’ve made it with built-in restoration and maintenance. Help me to look after it and glorify You. Amen.