“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”(Psalm 139:13-14)
Recently I read a story that Philip Yancey records in his book on “Prayer,”* about a lady in Nepal who was stricken with leprosy and had lost parts of her hands, feet, face and even her sight. She was the kind of person whose appearance would stop many people from wanting to come close to her, or maybe even notice her.
Philip goes on to tell how she was a beautiful Christian lady who really shined the light of Christ to those who met her and helped take care of her. He also shared how he keeps a picture he took of this lady and his wife on his desk to remind him of the beauty that God sees, rather than the trappings of beauty the world seems to think matter.
As I thought about this lady the world would cast aside as of little importance to them, I was reminded again of how God sees her and how much He values her. When God looks at a person, He sees what is on the inside, what is at the heart of a person and where their love and passion is directed. Psalm 139 tells us of how much thought and preparation God put into creating us, how He created us to be wonderful in His sight.
For those of us with chronic illness, it can seem hard at times to see our bodies as wonderful. There are things that no longer move as they should, or parts of our bodies that have atrophied. Internally, there are things that no longer work as they once did and prevent us from doing things we did before, or maybe just long to do now. To some people, we might seem of less value, or worth – maybe like the lady with leprosy – but the Bible says that God’s works are wonderful.
I chose to believe that God still includes me in that, that even in my brokenness, He sees me as wonderful, and still of worth to Him – even if in different ways.
*Prayer Does It Make Any Difference – Philip Yancey
About the Author:
Fiona Burrows lives in Melbourne, Australia where she is learning to be grateful for the lessons God is teaching her through her chronic pain. She prays that you may all be aware of just how wonderful God thinks you are.
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Chronic Illness Pain Daily Devotionals 
Hi Fiona!
This lady with leprosy that Philip met in Nepal must have really struck him with her inner beauty for him to put a picture of her and his wife on his desk.
Physical loveliness IS a pleasurable thing and one day all of God’s children will have new, perfect bodies. But we are more than physical beings and should encourage ourselves and others not to measure our value mainly on appearance.
Our society puts far too much emphasis on looks and physical ability unfortunately.
My prayer is that we not define ourselves by our illness or deformity. Instead, I am (Beth) and I happen to have ADD, OPD, etc.
Years ago, I heard a young man with only one leg say, “It’s just a minor inconvenience.”
For the believer, God is “making something beautiful of our lives.” Praise His Name!
Thanks Fiona for sharing this with us.
Grace & peace,
Beth
Fiona,
Yes, you are so right. Us, even us with our broken bodies are ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’. It can be hard to understand that and maybe we might not be able to fully understand that here on earth.
But it can help us feel that we still have a purpose in life.
Blessings,
Carol
Hi Fiona – you hit on a subject we all have had to face over and over again.
Yet you remind us, too, that God can use us. Perhaps He can use us even in better ways because we have to give so much control over to Him.
It would seem then that His purposes are being fulfilled – and we trust what we may not be able to see but He surely does.
What a journey it is, though.
It is good to ponder your thoughts. Thanks!
Love,
Lynn