My Picture in the Scripture

Psalms 139:14, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well”.

As a teenager, this Bible text was my life saver. When you are skinny, timid and gawky and not a great specimen in the ‘looks’ department, the word of God has the power to lift up your spirits and to give you hope. 

This Scripture is the lifeline for that teenager craving friendship and acceptance but experiencing avoidance and rejection. Getting blamed for every little wrongdoing and suffering abuse, whether physical, mental, or emotional, has a way of sending your fragile self-esteem to its lowest level. The pain, shame, confusion, self-blame, etc, begins to manifest in negative self-talk, food abuse, attention-seeking antics, depression and even suicide. What a life!

The word of God comes through so clearly… “I have cause to praise God; He made me a unique and wonderful being”. I am special. I didn’t realise this all these past years but now, I do. I am a masterpiece.

Ephesians 2:10, "For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."

And I am not an after-thought. Jeremiah 1:5 says, "I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb." I was already known even before being painstakingly designed and crafted. I am the manifestation of divine inspiration.

This is pure heady stuff for the average teenager. So, I don’t need those ‘curves’ the world worships and the ‘looks’ they rave about. They are products of the defective imaginations of ungrateful men.

Robert McGee puts it thus: "In our Search for Significance, many of us continue to seek our security and purpose from worldly sources - personal success, status, beauty, wealth, and even approval from others."

Not me, I’m cool, calm and contented with my foundation and my heritage. So, I am not popular in school and in the neighbourhood, having uncountable friends but I have Jesus – He is all the friend that I need. And He’ll get me friends, just like Him. 

So, I’m not hitting the As in all subjects in school but I am proud that my scores are the product of my effort, not through exam malpractice. So I’m not working with an employer ‘to die for’ in a profession that society regards as ‘top of the range’ but I’m happy and fulfilled adding value to people’s lives and the community.

Rather than follow the ever-changing ‘fashions’ that neither I nor my parents can afford, I rest easy, with gratitude to God, that I have food to eat; a roof over my head and clothes on my back. And while my peers may desire the limelight and worldly accolades, the most significant thing I want to do with my life is to please the One who made me!

It takes a tremendous dosage of divine wisdom and spiritual understanding for a teenager to overcome peer pressure and the crave for societal recognition and to find solace, joy and peace in the word of God. In studying and meditating on the Scriptures, the teenager is set free through the revelation of life truths that provide the courage to break out of the stress to conform to worldly standards.

So, I have the word for those who keep trying to put me down – John 9:25, “I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!”