ROOTED RENEGADE

In any Christian bookstore you can find the verse (or at least part of it) Psalm 139:14 “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” I wonder though, how many of us have actually stopped and really thought about what that verse means. Sure slap it on a coffee mug and it sounds great! Not to be sarcastic, but it gets thrown around and overused in such a manner that its meaning gets lost among the “Christian” community.

Let me back up a verse because I have learned that context is the most important. Psalm 139:13 says: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” WOW! How many of us stop and praise God for even creating our inmost beings? Before you answer that – S.T.O.P. and think for a moment about the entirety of what I am about to say because it has significance on how we praise or how we don’t praise Jehovah for creating us. Something I have learned over the last 10 months.

As a recovering addict and alcoholic with almost four years clean and sober I have learned some very pivotal things in my recovery. I could probably write a book just on that part of my life, with a sort of “Ted Talk” approach mixed with Biblical insight and not have any certification for either other than lived experience. One thing I have learned most recently is that as a person in recovery is that while I don’t look like what I have been through on the outside, my INSIDES tell a different story. Let me explain. Verse 13 again, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” When we were being formed, created, knitted together in the womb, we were shaped as the image of God. Don’t believe me? Genesis 1:27 “So God created mankind as his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” I think that is pretty cut and dry (and if you read the verse before and after it says be fruitful and increase in number having rule over the birds, fish, and animals – paraphrased). You see no where in the Bible does it say when we are out of the womb, to put toxins in our body that destroy our chemical makeup. That change the very nature by which we were created. Now one could argue many points on this, but before you start, stay with me.

God created all there is, including us, our cells, organs, blood vessels, etc. Let that sink in. We have a protein molecule called Laminin that holds our bodies together like glue – which is in the shape of a Cross. We are in fact as verse 14 states “fearfully and wonderfully made”. The definition of fearfully in the KJV Dictionary means “in a manner to impress admiration and astonishment” (Websters, 1828). The definition of wonderfully means “in a manner to excite wonder or surprise” (Websters, 1828). Let me admit right here that this would be the first time I have actually looked these up and I am in awe that Yahweh sees me in such regard! Most of us think of “fearfully” as the word sounds, to be afraid, scared, trepid. Quite the opposite when it comes to God!

So to think that He would have ever wanted us to put poison in our bodies and destroy HIS creation that bears HIS image, well that would be, diplomatically speaking, not the brightest idea. Sometimes we aren’t always the sharpest tools in the shed either. I know I for one am not, regardless of having my Father’s image, because my sinful human nature has distorted it, unfortunately. I have learned through the last 10 months on this journey of healing, that we drastically change our chemical makeup by what we eat, drink, and of course drugs and alcohol and they have long term lasting effects that I can just imagine hurt the heart of God. If I were Him, I would probably be heart broken all the time (it’s a good thing I am not).

We were designed to eat natural, from the earth, foods that he created which is why I imagine, our bodies are designed they way they are. Yes some of us are naturally different, I don’t have answers for all of our differences, I just think they make us unique – again we do bear God’s image. ALL OF US! Meditate on that. We, as time has pushed forward, have added unnatural substances to our foods to make it last longer which our bodies were not designed to ingest very well. Chemicals that when mixed with our natural chemical makeup can cause alterations over time. It’s why many of us who grew up eating wheat bread and other foods with gluten are now gluten intolerant. Same for dairy and yogurt. Over time, more and more chemicals are put into foods and animals which we then put into our bodies. Most of us probably never stop to think what it is actually doing because it “tastes good”.

Same thing goes for those of us who have experienced addiction to drugs and alcohol. It is poison. BOTH OF THEM. Just because one is legal and the other one isn’t doesn’t make it any less poison to your system. After 26 years of off and on addiction, I now understand this all too well. I have literally changed my chemical makeup and now have over 25 food allergies and intolerances, carbohydrate malabsorption problem, gluten problem, and some dairy. I have had to do a radical diet shift over the last 10 months that has flipped my world upside down and when I got mad about it and thought life was not fair this was the message God gave me. “For I fearfully and wonderfully made you and you made choices that changed my Image in you. I did not intend for you to live this way, but I will walk with you through this.” You see we get so mad because of things we go through in life, like sickness, cancer, loss, etc. that we forget we have made choices ourselves. I made choices. Whether I was taught from a young age or not, I still made choices for 26 years that put poison and toxins in my body that changed how my body operates. Now I have to deal with the way it operates now and adjust accordingly. Do I like it? Nope, not one bit! But, am I going to walk through the valleys of it knowing that God is with me and won’t leave me? Absolutely! There are some really, really hard days through this. When your body does not work right, you get fatigued really easy. Other issues start to happen as you figure out another new way to live. As if having to learn to live clean and sober along with some other new normals wasn’t hard enough! HA!! God is a God of wonders, glory, majesty, and splendor! He weaves this amazing redemptive cord all throughout our lives if we will just stop and look for it. We might be ready to give up, throw in the towel, quit and walk away because of our exhaustion, fear, anxiety, etc one day and as soon as we call on HIS NAME and go to Him in prayer it gets released and we wake up with new mercies and grace.

If you are walking through a valley right now, let me encourage you to look up! Speak the name of Jesus over your situation and find a strong support system. Just because we make choices does not mean there is not redemption. Walking with Jesus is not some glitter and rainbows kinda living. Kingdom work is hard sometimes. We need to learn that life is going to have it’s ups and downs and we can’t blame our choices and the consequences for those choices on God. It’s gonna be okay and we just have to keep pushing forward.

If you are in recovery or know someone struggling with addiction, there is help. One thing I remind myself and those I help is what these drugs are really made of and what alcohol can really do to your body. I am a walking testimony of both. No one wants to drink lighter fluid, battery acid, drano, or eat rat poison. Break down the chemicals in alcohol – it’s not all barley!! Help someone by being honest with them. Honesty goes a long way. Just remember, some people will want it when they are ready and some may never. Just don’t play God in their lives – that is HIS JOB.

Love hard. Live bold. Be Uncommon!

References

fearfully. Definition from the KJV Dictionary. Aug. 22, 2019. https://av1611.com/kjbp/kjv-dictionary/fearfully.html

wonderfully. Definition from the KJV Dictionary. Aug. 22, 2019. https://av1611.com/kjbp/kjv-dictionary/wonderfully.html