ODJ: marvel amid the mess

December 6, 2015 

READ: Genesis 1:24-31 

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it (Psalm 139:14).

It’s the kind of photo that compels even tough guys to use words like women? They’ll say adorable “Awwwww” and precious in one long, . And many heartrending syllable while clutching at their hearts and contorting their faces into maudlin expressions.

Okay, okay, the image is sweet. We get it. But what is it?

It’s a toddler—a perfectly earnest, beautiful little girl with hypnotically piercing eyes, soft wispy hair, and velvety cheeks that demand kisses from doting relatives. In the picture she’s with her auntie, and the two are peering intently at something—a camera. They’re enjoying each other and taking a selfie!

The pic, however, reveals something deeper—two people made in God’s image. We see a workmanship that David labeled “marvelous” (Psalm 139:14).

Now, the woman in the photo isn’t worshiping her own looks; she’s delighted with her gorgeous little niece. As for the girl, it’s good and natural for her to want to see her own image. She’s learning about herself, after all, and she’s made in the likeness of her Father-God.

We can only imagine the Creator as He set about to fill the world with living creatures. The amazing variety of wildlife compels our worship of the One who conceived it all and brought it into being. And the Creator called it all good. But the crowning achievement of creation is us! “God created human beings in his own image” (Genesis 1:27). It was only then that God called it “very good!” (v.31).

God’s wonderful creation is now broken, including us, but reflections of what has been and what will be continue to shine through. As we gaze on His good works, He gives us hope to press on and to marvel amid the mess.

—Tim Gustafson

365-day-plan: Colossians 3:1-17