I remember the day that I learned verses that changed my life, although I cannot give you the date. It is as clear in my mind today as it were the day I learned these verses.

Junior High Camp, maybe Thursday or Friday, was a bright sunny day. This Bible camp was amazing in both including me and unobtrusively monitoring my health needs.

My dad’s pastor friend (Pastor T) was director that week. He was sitting on the sidelines with the week’s speaker when he called me over. “Tell our speaker your story,” he said. With his help, I, a painfully shy, awkward, overweight and disabled young teen on “permanent” crutches, shared what God had done in my short 12-13 years. Pastor T helped me tell the story as I was so shy. He and his precious wife had prayed with my family for me through many, many of the challenges.

Due to my disability and awkwardness, I was used to being an outsider, seen as less than, and spoken down to. The speaker did none of that. Instead, he looked at me as a person shared this passage with me.

Psalm 139:14-16, KJV: “¹⁴ I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. ¹⁵ My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. ¹⁶ Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.”

“God made you,” he said. “He knew about all of this before you were born. He made you fearfully and wonderfully. He had all of this written down before you were born.”

I don’t remember who the speaker was or what he looked like as I was too busy examining my shoes and the grass as I told my story. Yet, that day, God used that speaker to change my life. His sharing these verses made me realize over and over that God has purpose even in my disability, awkwardness, and weakness. From that point, I realized that God had a plan for me… for me.

You are also fearfully and wonderfully made. God’s works are marvelous. He has a purpose and plan for you. We were not hidden from God as we were knit together in our mother’s womb. He saw us. He has our members (body, disability, etc.) written in a book before we came to be. He knew our story and how it could be used for His glory. He had and has a purpose.

Now, years later (nevermind how many years), these verses still encourage my heart on the rough days. I hope they encourage you as well! Pull them out on those hard days!