he delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. on him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.                      [2 corinthians 1:10]

humans are fragile, within an instant we can go from physical life to physical death. many parts of the human body can fall prey to attack or being struck, making us vulnerable. an article in nautilus, an online science magazine, noted 10 design flaws in the human body, ranging from an ‘unsound spine’ to ‘a misrouted nerve’ (the recurrent laryngeal nerve). to the world it seems that our bodies were made incorrectly. however, because of psalm 139:13, we know that God “knit us together in our mother’s wombs.” we know that in this intentional action he has intentionally made humans exactly the way he meant. yet any day we could just not wake up.

in this verse (10), scholars suggest that paul is directly talking about bodily sickness and harm. Paul mentioned in verse 9 how they “felt that they had received the sentence of death.” this was not a hyperbole, paul experiences near death enough to know exactly what it feels like to be on the brink of it. rather, paul and timothy are speaking of a specific deliverance from physical death at a time in asia. they are giving a practical example. they are showing how to live a life without fear of the ailments that plague their bodies. they are living as “if God is for them, therefore who can be against them?” [romans 8:31]

the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. [lamentations 3:22-23]

though God owes you no life, he has given you eternal life. that eternal life has already begun, no-one, not even death can end your eternal life.

believer are you living as if God has rescued you today? yesterday? a week ago? your entire life on this earth? praise God from whom all blessings flow, including this day of your life. [james 1:17]

[nautilus article here: http://nautil.us/issue/24/error/top-10-design-flaws-in-the-human-body]

~ holly russell