HAVE YOU EVER thought of God as an obstetrician/gynaecologist? I will leave you to come to your own conclusion later. One of the significant skills this specialist possesses is providing “medical and surgical care to women with particular expertise in pregnancy, childbirth, and disorders of the reproductive system”.
Centuries ago, God, the designer of the human race, spoke to King David of the activities that take place in the womb from fertilisation until the newborn baby enters the world, and the significant role He plays in the process. They are recorded in the Book of Psalm, chapter 139:15-18 (AMP).
“My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret, and intricately and curiously wrought [as if embroidered with various colours] in the depths of the earth [a region of darkness and mystery]. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they were all written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious and weighty also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I could count them, they would be more in number than the sand.”
There are some words and expressions that stand out in the above verses that will help you better understand how special you were to God, even in the womb.
Firstly, the expression “substance, being yet unformed” conveys from the Hebrew text that the early formation in the womb was at a stage that human life was unrecognisable. The word “frame” means bones or skeleton. The terms “in secret” and “depths of the earth” both speak of the womb. Clearly, David is talking of life form within the womb.
Secondly, David mentions that God “saw” the miniscule human formation. The word “saw” means to give attention to or to gaze at something. David noted that God gave special attention to him while he was being formed in the womb. It meant that God’s eyes never left him when he was being formed. God took time out to observe every cell division that took place as David grew from stage to stage. God saw when the bones were being formed; when the toenails were coming together; when the first strand of hair on his head found its rightful place; when the kidneys were shaped; when the first heartbeat erupted; when the blood vessels and the nervous system created their networks throughout the body. There was nothing that was being formed that escaped the eyes of God. Do you know that God did the same in your case?
Thirdly, David said that God documented every minute detail at every split second of his growth, and He did it for nine months without looking away from the activity in his mother’s womb. Do you know that God also did the same for you when you were developing in your mother’s womb? Yes, He did. Do you recognise how special you are to God? Even in the womb, He was there. His eyes never left you.
You have seen for yourself that you were held in high regard by God before you were born. He took good care of you in that womb. But also see His view of you after you left safety of the womb.
Fourthly, the new world with all of its complexities welcomed you with wide open arms.
You were now breathing on your own. When you came out of the human incubator, it must have been a great sigh of relief receiving your first breath from God. Think for a moment of the breath you are breathing. Do you know without it you will die? Do you also realise that under normal circumstances, your breath is automatic and you make little or no effort to do it? Do you also realise that you do not have to wake up during the night to check to see if you are inhaling and exhaling? That breath in you is another sign that even outside of the womb, you are still the Designer’s dynamic design. He still cares for you.
Fifthly, it was not long before you became aware that the world in which you live is not as safe and secure as when you were in the womb. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, made the wrong choice at the very beginning of time and as a result, humanity continues to be faced with all kinds of problems. It is not God’s fault. There are some children who have grown up with parents who treated them very well; affirmed them, complimented them, and made them feel special, just the way God wanted it to be. However, there are many more children who have lived with parents and other people who devalued them, called them all kinds of negative names and abused them physically, sexually, and otherwise. As a result of the undesirable treatment, they grew up not having a very good feeling about themselves and others. God always wanted parents and guardians to carry on the good treatment that He gave all children while they were within the womb. Unfortunately, all did not.
Sixthly, David said that God’s thoughts towards him were precious and weighty; more in number than all the sand combined in all the seas and land. Counting a handful of sand is impossible. If you multiply a handful of sand by billions more, the precious thoughts that God has toward you will still be short in number. It does not matter what your parents, friends, enemies, or anybody think about you, remember every thought God has toward you from the time you exited the womb is very precious. And nobody can change that reality.
Let today be the day when you decide to put people’s negative thoughts behind you and embrace God’s precious and substantial thoughts of you. Try to do the exercise tomorrow and then the next day, and then every day thereafter. Never forget you are the Designer’s dynamic design. I am glad that I am.
Reverend Haynesley Griffith is a marriage and family life consultant. Email griffitharticles@gmail.com
