Born For Total Devotion

Friday, January 7th, 2010

Today's Passage: Psalm 139:1-18
Memory Verse: Ps. 139: 16

There are some people who believe that birthdays should not be celebrated.  After all, we don't really know what day Jesus our Savior was born.  And if His birth took place in obscurity, why should ours be such a big deal?  But I beg to differ with my brothers and sisters that this is not the reason birthdays are so important.

My mother was forty-two years old when she discovered she was pregnant with me.  I was told later in my life that my father was none too pleased (I was the last of seven children, two of whom were stillborn).  In all those other pregnancies, she had managed to have almost all girls, and he didn't want another.  My middle name, "Darlesu", actually means "I'm done, and want no part of this", which was my dad's attitude at the time.

I'll admit that, with all the uncertainty surrounding my birth, I found it hard to believe that there was a purpose for my being on this earth.  But somewhere deep inside, I held on to hope I didn't know I had.  And that's why this passage gives me so much joy: to find out that before I was even thought of by my biological parents, God had already plotted my entire life's course.  He was so determined that I would make a difference in this world that He literally moved heaven and earth to make it happen.

So today, I praise God for my parents' obedience to go through with the pregnancy that brought me into the world.  But more than anything, I praise Him for knowing exactly what He sent me to this earth to reproduce.  I praise Him for steering me in the direction of my darling husband and giving me beautiful children to make my life colorful and worth living.  I go into every birthday happy to celebrate a life that could've been destroyed before it even began, and look forward to many more risings of the sun that would enable me to accomplish His perfect will.

Prayer: Father, thank You for not only being unsurprised by my birth, but also being aware of every step my life would take way in advance.  You saw every failure and yet counted me worthy to carry Your anointing.  Once again, I offer You this life to do with whatever You choose.  I love You forever, and will spend the rest of my life giving You the devotion I was born for.  In Jesus' Name, Amen.