“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well,” Psalm 139:14.

Sometimes it’s hard to read verses like this and find peace with them when our bodies feel broken, maimed, undesirable. These are not the descriptors that God gave our bodies. He made us good, in his image, fearfully and wonderfully. So then what happened? Why do our bodies sometimes feel broken? Why do they wear out? Why do we look in the mirror sometimes and wish to see a different reflection?

Our bodies had been designed in the image of God which is described in Genesis 1:27: "So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." After Adam and Eve created distance between themselves and God in the Garden of Eden, creation—including our bodies—began to break down.

But God used this situation to write a beautiful redemption story. He would send Jesus to "comfort the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release the prisoners from darkness" (Isaiah 61:1b). Jesus came to reconcile us with God and he is now preparing our final home with him. We will not always have broken and maimed bodies. We will be restored and made new. What a great hope we have in Christ!