His Complex Creation

Psalm 139:13-14 (NIVUK) —

‘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.’

I remember being called a 'coconut' and 'oreo' by a friend at school, because I didn't align with her idea of how a fellow mixed-race girl should speak or act. To her, I was brown on the outside but white on the inside. I was messing up the labels. There’s nothing wrong with relating to a label (I’m proud to be a mixed-race brown girl!) and often in many ways they help us understand one another and provide a sense of identity.

But labels can stop people from seeing us fully, like my friend at school. It’s not so much the label that’s wrong, it’s the perception of what that label means. It’s human nature to separate and distance ourselves from people who are different to us. When earthly things like race, nationality, education, and political views mean we see another human being as anything other than God’s three dimensional, complex, nuanced creation, that’s when we get into trouble.

'A beloved child of God' is the definition of who we are. And a beloved child of God is the definition of everyone else on this planet. Psalm 139 is true of ourselves, and it’s true of everyone else. Even the ones we don’t know, don’t understand, or don’t like.

If ever you're feeling fenced in by the world, reduced to a label, remember God's love transcends all that. Every separation between our brothers and sisters in Christ, God has torn and will continue to tear down. Not to be the same, but to be united in our differences. Because those differences are not all that we are.

Prayer - Lord, in times when I feel pigeonholed, please help me to remember I am not who the world says I am. In the moments that I am assuming or prejudiced, please forgive me, and help me to love as you have loved.