So what are you going to do with this life God gave you? "Have you ever felt like you just didn't fit in? "Is this all there is? Why am I here, and for what reason? My life seems to just be drifting along without any apparent plan. Does God really care? Does He really know what I am going through?!"

I believe most of us have experienced this or will go through times like these. Whether it's due to the stress of our fast paced society, sickness or some other form of despair, we need to keep this in mind: the devil always wants to get us into the place of despair. Feeling as if there is no hope and that we are the only one that is experiencing this type of anguish.

Know this: If you are a born again Christian, then what you are going through may be a partial truth, but it's not the total truth. You may be experiencing great financial trouble, but the Word of God says that He takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant! - The total truth. Sickness and disease may be ravaging your body, but the Word of God says that by His stripes you were healed! - The total truth.

The Word of God tells us that we have been given favor from the Lord, it's our inheritance as child of God (Psalm 5:12). You may not be experiencing it at this very moment, but you can if you will focus on the total truth and begin to expect favor instead of lack and trouble. Remember this truth: If things can go wrong, they can just as easily go right!!! So let's take a look at what the Word has to say about your situation.

Psalm 139:14 reads; "I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are your works, and my soul knows very well." In the original Hebrew text, the word 'fearfully' means: with great reverence and heart-felt interest and respect. The word 'wonderfully' means: unique, set apart, uniquely marvelous. WOW! No wonder the psalmist bursts out with exuberant praise in this verse. He realized the great love and concern that went into his unique and very individual creation. The next time you have the temptation to ask the Lord, "Don't you care what is happening to me?" Remember this verse, because the total truth is that He cares with an acute intensity that cannot ever be measured.

For more understanding regarding this subject, let's take a look at Ephesians 2:10. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them"

Let's examine the word 'workmanship.' It comes from the Greek word 'poiema' and the word signifies a work of art brought forth by an artisan. Our English word poem and poetry stem from this word.

Just think of it, we are God's poem, that's right, poetry in motion! You are a genuine and unique work of art produced by the Master Himself! Just as a poem has meter, rhyme, rhythm, beauty and meaning, so our lives are also meant to reflect the beauty of God's love. This is to be uniquely expressed through our individual characteristics which have been carefully selected for us, that we - being set apart unto Him - may fulfill the purposes of God on the Earth.

Jeremiah 29:13 reveals a special truth regarding this very matter; "For I know the thoughts (purposes) that I think (plan) toward (for) you. Thoughts (purposes) of peace and not of evil, to give you a (quality) future and a hope."

The word for 'thoughts' in the Hebrew means purposes, intentions, skillful works. The word for 'think' is the root word for 'thoughts' and it means to think, to plan, to devise, to invent, to meditate and to abound.  The plans that God has for us were well thought out, meditated upon, devised specifically for us so that we would abound in them.

You may be asking yourself, "Can this really happen to me?" Let's take a look at 2 Corinthians 9:8, "And God is able to make all (not just some) grace abound toward you; that you always having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work." Now that's the will of God toward you! Dare to believe it.

Praise the Name of the Lord forever! Each of us has been given a unique and individual purpose that cannot fail if we will cast off fear and stop listening to the lies of failure, doom and gloom and all the negativity that the devil has been beating us up with. Regardless of our past and our shortcomings! Why? Because it is God ordained - that's why. And besides that, Romans 11:29 tells us: "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." He's given this to you and He will never take it back - it stands as a fact of His total truth toward you!

The plans and purposes of God are set in motion for a reason, to give us a future and a hope, so that we can be a blessing while we're here on the Earth. The King James Version interprets the phrase 'future and a hope' as an 'expected end.' Do you know what that means? It's the end or future culmination of life that He has expected for us to receive and experience as a reality through Jesus - which is total victory through the storms of life! Hallelujah! Total truth.

The devil is a liar. So shake off that feeling of dread and despair. Get back into fellowship with the Master and put on the garment of praise, because you are a person of destiny. You are a person of purpose and worth, uniquely fashioned, a true work of art - a Master piece. You are specifically equipped and set apart having been Fearfully and Wonderfully Made!
~Dan Downey

"You see in my limited understanding I view my pains and sorrows as a knotty hindrance. However, God sees a different picture, a complete picture. He sees my weakness as essential threads in the unique tapestry he is creating in my life. Not until my life, your life, is finished and silent, will we understand the darker threads in our human tapestries and their contributions to the beauty of our unique design. We may disagree with God's choice of colors. But we are a works in progress...still stretched on God's loom." ~ Judy Gann

When we struggle with pain and sorrow it is difficult to believe we are fearfully and wonderfully made, but trust that God had a plan in mind when he formed you. Sometimes I think about what I could accomplish if I had a healthy body and mind. Thinking I might better serve the Lord if I had better abilities. I would be able to do more, go more, be more; but I suspect it might not be more of what God had planned for me. I suspect God knows that I would be so caught up in my own agenda I would loose site of His perfect will. If I wasn’t forced to be still I wouldn’t be able to hear His voice as clearly. So I will rejoice that God has a plan for me, just as I am, and that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Heavenly Father, as I lie here in pain and struggle through the brain fog to make a complete sentence I will praise you this day and every day, because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Thank you that you are able to use my broken body for your glory. For you alone see the completed work.