God’s Sovereignty in Human Growth

My 15 year old son loves to play basketball and has dreams of reaching the height of 6 foot.  I have to admit that it’s been a roller coaster ride since he started his growth spurts at about the age of 12.  I see how much it means to him to make that mark, and we diligently track his progress on the kitchen door frame.  If we ever move, I guess we will take the door frame with us since we have all of the progress of Adam’s dreams documented there.

Tuesday night, Adam dislocated his pinky finger playing basketball, and off we went to the emergency center to see if it was broken.  While there were no fractures, we were excited to leave with a copy of his hand x-ray to view on our home computer.  Oddly enough, this past Sunday, a friend was telling us how orthodontists will sometimes x-ray their teenaged patient’s hands to help decide where the patient is in the growth pattern. So, Wednesday night Adam and I sat down at the table to do our own research and get to the bottom of this whole “how tall will he be” business.

We were in for a treat.  As I surfed the internet and read a lot of really fancy doctor lingo, I began to realize the depth and intricacy of the human hand.  I don’t know why I’m still surprised when I see how amazing our Creator really is.  But I am taken by surprise every time I see his “handiwork”.  Do you realize just how much detail and planning are involved in the human growth process?  Each section of each finger, and each little bone in the hand has a pattern that is distinct in each developing human.  Several changes are made in certain fingers in order, and the gaps left for growth are closed one by one, followed by fusion of certain parts of the bones where the spaces were left opened.  The last piece in the hand to fuse is the radius (wristbone).  Then, the body is almost done growing, and the knee growth plates close, followed by the spine and finally the clavicle (very noticable in boys as their shoulders broaden considerably).

The longer I sat and looked at the x-ray, the more excited I got.  Let’s face it.  The growth pattern of the human body is just another signature of God.  No one can convince me that all of this came from nothing.  As Hank Hanegraaff always says, “nothing comes from nothing…nothing ever could.”

As you can see by the big bone on the bottom right, there is only a VERY small gap left in Adam’s wrist bone.  Can he squeak out 2 and a half more inches?  Well, it’s already encoded in his DNA by a very loving Potter.  He makes the clay and forms it into His finished design.  He loves each of us individually.  I think Adam can trust a Designer who has every hair on His head numbered.  If he doesn’t hit the 6 foot mark, He will have still realized the dream His God had for Him before the foundations of the world.  You just can’t beat that.  What a God we serve!  Who says the devil is the one in the details?  Our God is intricate, completely divine, completely trustworthy with all of our dreams, and His Sovereign will over them.  Rest in that, Adam.  There really is no greater joy.

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