Glorious and More Glorious

There are few dull moments when you are married to a woman who is 9 months pregnant. I've been on high alert for the past several days. Just last week I was sitting in my comfortable brown recliner when I heard moaning and groaning coming from upstairs. I jumped to my feet and ran over to the stairs--fully expecting to load Ashley up, and like a 10 year old sitting behind a steering wheel in an arcade, drive 80 mph weaving my way in and out of traffic on our way to the hospital (the man clearly gets the better deal in this whole process). I got to the stairs and with deep concern and anticipation in my voice asked her what was happening. Her response was, "Ooh nothing honey. I just feel so large!" False alarm. The racecar driving would have to wait for another day.

I was recently driving (the speed limit) down the interstate when my eyes drifted over to enjoy the majestic and beautiful Colorado Rockies. I have surveyed these same mountains thousands of times over the past six years, but this time was different. I was drawn to the extraordinary detail that God used as He shaped this particular mountain range. As my eyes shifted back and forth between the road and the mountains, I began thinking about how God had placed every tree just where He wanted it. He shaped every nook and cranny on every mountain. Even today, He orders the water where to run as the snow melt turns into summer streams. Praise filled my heart as I thought about the good work God accomplished in creating the Rocky Mountains.

He responded by speaking the following statement to my heart: "I put more work into creating you than I did that mountain range." My initial response was to think that I must have eaten a bad pizza for lunch and am now hearing things. Surely God didn't put more detail into creating me than this spectacular mountain range my eyes were beholding. I'm confident I heard Him right, but it took my heart a minute to digest the truth of that statement.

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 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.
16 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

The development process that occurs inside the womb is fascinating. It reveals just how detailed and mysterious God is. He created the earth and everything in it in seven days, and yet He chooses to take nine months to form a baby inside the womb! We really are His masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10).

Pikes Peak is a glorious mountain. It's never uttered a word, but it speaks continually of the presence and glory of the Creator. This glorious God has placed more glory upon you than on any mountain, canyon, ocean, sunset, or anything else your eyes will see. He has made you in His image. It's true that you bear His name and His image. Let that sink into your heart. You are His primary plan to reveal His glory to a dark world. When we grasp the truth of this, life goes from being mundane, boring and ordinary to extraordinary, supernatural and purposeful.

Our second daughter will arrive any day now. As excited as we are, we're also aware that she really doesn't belong to us but rather to God. He knew her before the creation of the world, and He has spent the past nine months meticulously forming her. May I be a good steward of something that is so precious to Him.

God help me.