This article was published on The Gospel Coalition Africa, July 2, 2024. By Rosie Moore.
Am I a mistake? Is my life futile? Or are all my days ordained and sustained for me? From time to time, I wrestle with a sense of futility, prompting me to wonder, “Does my life have any real meaning and purpose, or is it just one random day after another?” Those who don’t believe in God imagine that we are just the result of time and chance, no more valuable than plants and animals. People who are disabled, old or unborn are considered disposable and less valuable than others. But the Bible tells us that each human life is precious in God’s eyes.
All My Days Are Ordained by God
Psalm 139:13-16 shares how all my days are ordained or planned out by God. That even before we were born, God saw the inner parts of our body and recorded the days of our lives. “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” (Psalm 139:13-14). I often revisit Psalm 139 to remind me of the wonderful reality that I cannot escape the Lord’s watchful eye. God knows, God sees, God cares.
There is nowhere I can hide from God’s loving presence or escape from his sovereign purpose.
Nothing can touch me apart from his loving permission. There is nowhere I can hide from his loving presence or escape from his sovereign purpose (Psalm 139:5-7,16). Before I was even born, God knew and loved me (Ps 139:15). I am not a mistake, as each moment of my life was ordained by him before a single day passed (Psalm 139:16). God is here, with me (Ps 139:1-3). He is familiar with all my ways (Psalm 139:3). God has ordained my days and I am known by him; this is surely part of the answer to the question of whether my life has any real meaning or purpose.
God’s Presence Brought Me Back
There was a time when I was a university student, doing my best to run away from the Lord. But as I paddled in a canoe in the middle of the Zambezi River, surrounded by beautiful and terrifying evidences of his presence in creation, I began to recall the words of Psalm 139 which I’d memorised many years earlier. As I prayed the psalm out loud, it dawned on me how foolish and arrogant I was to imagine that I could run from God’s presence and escape his watchful eye. I began to feel deep sorrow at my futile attempts to live life on my own terms, as if God did not know, or see, or care. It was this knowledge of God’s watchful eye that led me to repentance.
When we come to Christ in faith, we become the place where God dwells.
As God is omnipresent, in a general sense no one can escape him. “The presence of God’s glory is in heaven, the presence of his power on earth, the presence of his justice in hell, and the presence of his grace is with his people” (John Mason). But the Lord’s presence finds its fullest expression in Emmanuel, God with us.
When the Lord Jesus came to earth, he took on the name Emmanuel, or “God with us.” When we come to Christ in faith and repentance, we become the place where God dwells. Our powerful brother, Saviour and friend stands with us and lives within us. The cross powerfully demonstrates that Christ is here with us. We are sustained by God.
We Are Precious to God
As a mother, I have often used the word “precious” as a term of endearment. The dictionary defines “precious” as “of great value, not to be wasted or treated carelessly.” Psalm 139 gives us solid proof of how much God values each person made in his image. Each life is wonderfully complex and unique, made with tender forethought and care in the dark seclusion of a mother’s womb. God’s workmanship is truly extraordinary, and our lives are precious to Him. We are precious to Him; our lives indeed have real meaning and purpose.
How God Sees Me Gives My Life Meaning
That is why God’s thoughts were precious to David. He hungered to know God and His ways: “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain…how precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way” (Psalm 139:6; 17).
Believers should welcome the searchlight of the Holy Spirit to expose the motives of our hearts.
Even if we do not rightly understand everything about ourselves and the world, we serve a God who does. Even when we are blinded and deceived by our own sin and foolishness, God knows us better than we know ourselves (Psalm 139:3-4). He searches our hearts and points out our sin so that we can live a fruitful life of abundance, in relationship with God and others (Psalm 139:23-24). As believers, we should welcome the searchlight of the Holy Spirit to expose the motives and desires of our hearts, because God’s thoughts are precious to us.
God Doesn’t Abandon Us
Who among us hasn’t grappled with feelings that perhaps God has deserted us? Perhaps you’ve been mistreated and wonder if anyone knows or cares about your situation. Perhaps you’re struggling with grief, fear, or loneliness. But feelings lie to us about who God is and who we are. What matters is not how we feel, but what God says is true.
We too can rest secure in our Creator’s hands: “You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me” (Psalm 139:5). God’s hand of blessing and guidance is upon us, not the hand of oppression (Psalm 139:5b;10). Even amid troubles, we can be confident of the Lord’s good intentions towards us. “Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast” (Psalm 139:10). God is constantly for us. All my days sustained by God.
What matters is not how we feel, but what God says is true.
Because God has ordained our days, we need never fear that death will take us unexpectedly. Despite wars, criminality, sickness, uncertainties, and the murderous schemes of man, we will not live one day too many nor one day too few. God gives meaning to each new day and he chose us to glorify him forever. We glorify God by loving him and by obeying his commands to love others.
Steward the Life God Gives You
If our lives have been redeemed by Christ, God has ordained us to live more like Jesus every day. He uses all circumstances, even painful ones, to achieve this end (James 1:2-4; Romans 8:28-29; 1 Peter 4:1). Because God has ordained our days, we are stewards of whatever life God has entrusted to us (Matthew 25:14-30). God doesn’t make mistakes. Each day is irreplaceable and significant, preparing us for “an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). Because all our days are ordained by God, our lives have real meaning.
