“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Psalm 139:13-16 ESV
I was recently listening in on my husband’s med school lecture on reproduction. Although I’m familiar with the information as a midwife, the intricate details and the amount of hormones, cells, and structures that have to work together perfectly to create life is astounding. So many steps and places for things to go wrong. Then, the miracle continues as the baby grows, develops, and enters the world- “intricately woven in the depths of the earth.” Even after being at hundreds of births, watching a mother birth her baby and then seeing that baby take their first breath never ceases to leave me in awe and wonder.
In my job, I often have new life but also death slipping through my hands. These are sacred moments. Souls entering the world or joining the heavenly one. Their lives may go on to be long or just a few short weeks. Yet, size, development, or time on earth doesn’t determine their value and purpose. They have it just simply because they are human.
I’ve been thinking of my own value and worth and how often I find it in my doing. Am I being a good enough midwife, wife, mom, friend, daughter, or church member? God has been showing me that He loves me just because He made me; he “knitted me together.” Like these tiny souls who are wholly dependent, helpless, needy- so are we. And so do we have value and worth just because we are His children.
Through this lens, we can extend value to all human beings- the refugee, the disabled, the elderly, the orphan, the prostitute, the homeless, the enemy. In a memoir I was reading recently, “Saving My Assassin,” Virginia Prodan lived her life with this lens. She was a lawyer under the communist regime in Romania and faced unimaginable persecution by her enemies. Yet, with the help of the Holy Spirit, she continually saw them as humans made in the image of God. She prayed and proclaimed the gospel to them despite their cruel and unjust treatment.
It is a conviction to me at how easily in my flesh I dehumanize people. I see their sin, their circumstances, their behavior instead of seeing them. Although God does not dismiss or ignore our sin, praise the Lord that He sees us through the lens of Jesus. That in Christ, He sees us as His children. The beginning of Psalm 139 says, “Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up: you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.” Yet, in this, he always sees the sanctity of our lives and provides a way through grace. May we, with His help, see people with this humanity and grace.
Written by Becky Thorp, LM, CPM, CCE (licensed midwife, certified professional midwife, certified childbirth educator)
