How I marvel at God's attention to detail

This past semester my Biology 100 class gave a whole new, deeper meaning to Psalm 139, especially verse 13: "You created every part of me; you put me together in my mother's womb."

Psalm 139 was already one of my favorite psalms before I took Bio 100. I love it because it means I am known and I am secure in my Father's love that I can never fall out of grace with. It says that I am understood by my God in a deeper way than I can understand myself. It lets me know I am free to just be before him, with no pretending. He created me and understands my emotions, thoughts and actions in a way that doesn't need words. He sees me and loves me with a love I can't be separated from.

It wasn't until Bio 100, though, that I thought about how God created every part of me. Studying genetics opened my eyes to the great intentionality God has in his creation of each person. I barely understand the basics of genetics, but the amount of things that work together to make up a human being makes me marvel at the greatness of our God. The cell, the complexity of DNA and the inheritance of every single trait we possess is a testimony to the miracle that we are. The moment in lab that really made me stop and realize how much detail God put into making me was when I found out there's even a gene that codes for if we have hair on the middle joint of our fingers. Now that's attention to detail.

Studying biology this semester made me stand in awe of who God is. Through it, I also realized how big God is, and that I can't try to put him in a box. I love thinking about the way that everything the human race has learned and figured out in the course of history is only a tiny glimpse of the greatness of our God, only a tiny glimpse of everything God knows and the way he created the universe to work. Humans could spend the entire course of human history learning and still only skim the surface of who our God is.

Maybe that's another reason why I love Psalm 139. Throughout it, the psalmist juxtaposes the overwhelming vastness of our God with God's intimate love, knowledge and care for each of us. In verses 17-18 David says, "O God, how difficult I find your thoughts; how many of them there are! If I counted them, they would be more than the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you."

The great God of the universe is with us and knows us. He created us, sees us, and understands. What an amazing God we have.

Mia Pohlman is a Perryville, Mo., native studying at Truman State University. She loves performing, God and the color purple – not necessarily in that order.