Those who don’t know me are often surprised to learn that I was a biologist. I hold a degree in it. I studied cellular biology, specifically genetics, and until some life events changed my course, I was on track for a PhD program.

I still love it. When I get stuck writing a sermon, I find myself perusing scientific journals. Not just because I find them fascinating, but because they also tell a deeper story; a spiritual one.

Every cell in our bodies contains the full code of who we are. Isn’t that wild? Skin cells, hair cells, spleen cells - each of them carry the complete genetic blueprint. Only certain genes are expressed in certain cells, depending on what that cell is meant to do; liver cells are active in the liver, pinky-toe cells are active in the pinky-toe. It’s a matter of location, context, and purpose. The rest of the code remains quiet, yet ever-present.

The deeper I delve into both science and spirit, the more I realize they tell a similar story.

We carry the imprint of the divine in every part of ourselves, written into the fabric of who we are. Like DNA, the holy is embedded in us, cell by cell, breath by breath. Some aspects show up clearly in our lives; others stay hidden, quietly waiting for their time.

Faith, then, isn’t about earning something external, but connecting with what’s internal. It’s the slow and sacred process of becoming, of letting love and grace activate something in us that we may not have known was there.

Like a gene activated by the needs of the body, our spirits often awaken in response to challenge. Truth, kindness, and calling can stir something in us, but it’s in the crucible of suffering, in the face of what feels impossible, that the most resilient, God-breathed parts of us rise. These moments don’t just test us; they unveil the holy within, stirring a strength we didn’t know we carried, and awakening us to a presence we’ve always held, but never fully known.

There’s something holy about the way hardship clarifies things. It doesn’t mean we welcome pain. It is to say that when we find ourselves pressed or stretched or undone, we discover that God isn't "out there" to be found, but always within us, waiting to be revealed.

So if you’re feeling unsure, stuck, unworthy, defeated, or like you’ve somehow missed your moment, hear this:

You already carry the presence of God within you.
You are already equipped.
You may not see it yet, but the presence of God is there.

Marjorie Suchocki, my favorite theologian, once compared the presence of God to the water in a rock pulled from a river. On the surface, it looks like any other rock - solid, whole, unchanged. The water in no way diminishes the rock. But crack it open, and you’ll find there’s no place within it that has not been touched by water. Saturated. Surrounded. Soaked through.

That’s how God dwells within us. Not overtaking us, not erasing or diminishing us, but present in every fiber, every cranny, and unfolding part of who we are. We are never without that holy presence.

My wish for you this week, Reader, is that you’ll trust what’s already within you. May you rest in the truth that you are saturated with grace, filled with presence, and equipped for whatever is unfolding next. Even if you can’t see it yet, though it may feel quiet or dormant; know that God is there, and love is already at work calling it (you!) to life. That's the fiLLLed life.

Live a fiLLLed life, Melissa ​

Want to read more about how suffering and spiritual growth are connected? P.S. Check out Pursuing Uncomfortable: Lean In and Overcome.​