God Made Me a Winner

From the Beginning – Before Time

I heard the Prophet say, “You are NOT a mistake.”  That stuck!  More than a decade ago, I understood as a mother and teacher on that particular Friday night, what the messenger was trying to convey. Simply said, before I was placed in time God saw me and declared me a winner! 

In this climate of social media, statistics show that teen suicide has increased. A negative statement about one’s appearance or family has increased suicide rates among this group. Isolation, economic barriers, cyber bullying, and constantly feeding children picture-perfect people in TV ads, help fuel low self-esteem. Adding to this problem are politicians and ministries that stereotype people. For instance, the teaching that you were born out of wedlock, therefore you are a MISTAKE. Social welfare is a problem; it produces welfare queens. These are direct and indirect messages that are being pumped into our society everyday. Different method, same message received. Your family does not look like my family, that makes you are a MISTAKE.

God’s standards are not people standards. However, when you are young, it is difficult to understand.

It will takes lots of work and love to dispel messages of inferiority. From ancient time until the very present, the teaching of God’s love should be the message – You are NOT a mistake (biologically nor scripturally). Yet, we do not as a society do very well in this area.

The heading from an article in ScienceNewsforStudents read:

So, let’s take a look at why you are biologically a winner.

Research shows that the average egg lives only 24 hours. So, it needs to be quickly fertilized after its release from the ovary. If an ova (egg) is to be fertilized, it is usually within 12 hours of release; the sperm has only 9-12 hours to prepare for its upcoming journey.  In the entire process, the egg only has up to 24 hours to survive and the sperm only has up to 24 hours to complete its goal.

Scientists have discovered that there is a race which occurs biologically prior to human conception. The race must be completed in less than 24 hours. You see, a large sperm consists of an average of 250 million sperms which start the race, but only one is chosen to fertilize the egg. The winner will be declared by the one sperm which reaches the egg.

This race is not an easy one for these 250 million competitors.  Those who guard the female egg, view the sperms as foreign agents and must be met with resistance. Along the pathway, obstacles are placed in the sperms’ way. The names of the opposers are called pH acid, reproductive organs, and cavities known as crypts. In the first leg of the journey, millions do not make it. Millions now become thousands, for they were unable to resist the forces of their opposers. 

Not all is loss, however.  For the thousands encounter a friend in the second leg of the race, known as the ovum.  Ovum tries to pave the way for sperms by releasing molecules and sending signals to other parts of the females’ physical body (i.e., cervical mucus) to please allow these swimmers through.  Thus, with less resistance being applied against them, the intruding sperms are permitted to continue the race. 

Still, the thousands of sperms have now become a few hundreds for they became exhausted and unable to continue the path.  Now, there are only a few sperms left in the race. Look! They encounter a thick entrance door. Under the watchful eye of the ovule (the flag waver), only one sperm will be allowed to cross the finish line. Which of the remaining few will get to the ovule first? 

The chosen spermatozoon, the strongest, contacts with the zona pellucida (the thick membrane surrounding the ovum), thereby initiating the so-called acrosome reaction (the action of fertilization).  The ultimate goal of all this sperm travel is to meet the egg, merge with it, and allow a new cell’s birth. 

Yes, biologically, the fact that I (we) survived this 24 hours ordeal which declares me (us) to be a winner.

Scripturally, The Word goes even further and declares you and me are wonderfully put together. “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well,” Psalm 139:14 NIV. Hallelujah!

In fact, The Word said, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations,” Jeremiah 1:5.

As servant leaders, it is our job to teach and dispel the idea that a child is a MISTAKE because of how you were born, who your parents are, one’s economic disposition, ethnicity, religious background, locale and any other reason that is counter-productive to what God says about us. Are you onboard?