What They Called Junk

For decades, geneticists referred to roughly 98 percent of human DNA as "junk DNA" — vast stretches of genetic code that appeared to serve no purpose. It was dismissed as biological filler, evolutionary leftovers, meaningless noise.

Then in 2012, the ENCODE project — a massive international effort involving over 400 scientists across 32 laboratories — published findings that stunned the scientific community. What had been labeled junk was anything but. At least 80 percent of the human genome carries out some biochemical function. These so-called useless sequences help regulate genes, fight disease, and shape who we become. The code that experts had discarded as worthless turned out to be essential.

Some of you walked in here this morning carrying a label someone hung on you years ago. Worthless. Too much. Not enough. You have heard it so many times you have started to believe it.

But the God who knit you together in your mother's womb — El Roi, the God Who Sees — never wrote junk. Every strand of who you are was designed with intention. Psalm 139 tells us we are fearfully and wonderfully made, and that is not a greeting card sentiment. It is a declaration from the One who encoded purpose into every fiber of your being.

The world may mislabel you. But your Creator never did. What others dismissed, the Almighty designed on purpose and for a purpose.