For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13).
We did not pick our mothers, nor did they pick us. Someone else was in charge of the selections. If we wonder why we were not born in Bangladesh, or in the year 1496, the answer lies not in our genes, but with our God. Without his direct action, we would not be. Before our mother was born, we were already chosen to be her child. It was foreordained.
But that does not mean that we are the product of some mechanical formula worked out eons before our birth. We are the result of individual, careful, and loving decisions by the same one who formed the stars and calls them out by name. Our heart and lungs, our brain and nervous system, were custom made. Our fingerprints were designed just for us.
As one knits a blanket to a certain size and with a certain pattern, so the Creator fashioned us. The psalmist calls out in the next verse, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” But the pattern we were made from was not completely new. Pieces of us match pieces of our parents and relatives before them. Maybe it is said that we have our father’s ears, or our mother’s smile. Someone may have pointed out that we have our grandfather’s eyes. Maybe when we look at old pictures we notice that, as a child, we looked much like one of our great-grandparents when they were young.
We are not an accident. We are not merely the product of a biological process. We are the handiwork of God. We are wonderfully made. He could have decided to call us into being out of nothing, as he did the sun and moon. Instead, he chose to form us inside of a woman. He picked out our extended family. He set the time and place for us to draw our first breath. He selected our mother.
Our father was also of his choosing. A dad’s role is different, however. But both deserve special treatment. “Honor your father and mother!” is an order from our Creator. That command stands no matter how good of parents we think they are. By honoring them, we honor God. But mothers stand out as extra special. It was a female that was chosen as the one to serve mankind in a very special way. It was a woman who gave birth to the incarnate Son of God.
Jesus of Nazareth called Mary, “Mama.” He was both her son and her Savior. He brought her
pain. He gave her heaven. It’s the same gift he offers us. We were fashioned according to God’s pattern for God’s purpose. We were designed to live forever. Mary’s Son has made this possible. For that, we thank our Savior God and acknowledge the wonder of his greatness. He has blessed us in many wondrous ways. As one of his wonders, he has given us our moms.
We pray: God of mercy and might, as we consider how wonderfully we are made, we are compelled to declare, “How great thou art!” We thank you for giving us life. We ask you to use us for the purposes you have chosen for us. We thank you for our moms. Amen.
Written by Pastor Paul Ziemer, WELS National Civilian Chaplain
and Liaison to the Military, Cape Coral, Florida
Provided by WELS Ministry to the Military
