You are not an accident

For You created my inmost being;
       You knit me together in my mother's womb .Psalm 139:13

 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
       before you were born I set you apart; Jeremiah 1:5a

From being a little boy I have always known that I was loved and wanted. Not until my mother read us the famous Hector Malot novel “Nobody’s Boy” did I know that there were children for whom it was different. I remember crying when Remi left the house at the hand of Vitalis. My world felt all of a sudden less safe. I still think back with fondness to those precious hours before bed time, listening to stories being read. They were moments shielded from the cruel world outside. Those were the days that I could barely read myself.  

Years later, as I was leading Mission Camps, it became apparent to me that many more have to deal with this ‘not being wanted’ thing. Nowadays one of my standard devotions I use is based on that subject. It is so important for people, especially for young people to know that they are not accidents. Today parents often think that, because they have all sorts of birth control available, the conception and birth of a child is solely their choice.  I believe with all my heart that God is the One who gives that privilege to them. Yes, we know how to make a baby and yes many babies are conceived without any plans to do so. But failure on our side to be careful with this privilege God gives us does not mean a lack of planning on His side.

It is heart breaking to see young people raise their hands when asked if they ever overheard their parents speak of them as an accident. It is so ignorant of parents to speak of their children like that. Christian parents should know better than that.  Read the passages at the top of this chapter again. You get it? God tells us through those words that He knows all about us before we are formed in the womb. Knitted is the word that David the author of this psalm uses. He set us aside. That means He made a plan for us!

My mother used to knit a lot. Our family had nine people and most every sweater in our house came from her knitting needles or even more fun, the knitting machine. I loved to watch her use it. I still hear the sound of the slider over the needles. It created music in my head and the sweater was growing with every move. I would help her keeping the yarn from tangling up. It is funny how things change in life. Now I cannot bring up the patience to get a knot out of an extension cord.

Knitting is something that takes a lot of planning. You have to have it all in your head or on a piece of paper and do a lot of counting otherwise it is not going to work. I think that’s why David in Psalm 139 uses the metaphor of knitting. Being a shepherd he might have been a knitter himself. He shows us that God has a plan for us. We were in His head before we came to being, yes long before that moment.  I share that with young people so they may understand that their decision to come to a Mission Camp is part of God’s plan for their life. It fits also in God’s plans for the lives of the people they come to serve. And when from time to time He allows us to have a little insight in these plans, it blows our mind. That’s my God. He loves me and since he knitted me he wants me to be good. Just like the rest of the creation he made long time ago.

I have since grown up and found out that God has an awesome plan for my life. In the following chapters I will try to share with you how I, little by little, have come to understand that. I’m still learning and never know what’s next. All I know is the end of the story. I’m going to be with Him. Yeah!