Wonder and awe.

When was the last time you were awestruck?

A couple of years ago, I lived out in the middle of the country.  No street lights or air pollution clogged the sky.  I walked out to the country road and laid back on the grass on the side of the road.  All was dark and cool.  I stared up into the blackness.  Stars filled the sky, giving fresh meaning to the word "vast."  The longer I stared, the more stars I began to see.  The swirling spiral of the Milky Way snaked is way across the sky.  Constellations I had never managed to identify before appeared with startling clarity.  I marveled at the magnitude of the expanse stretched out before me and worshiped the God who created all.  I was humbled that God, who could create such magnificence, thought to create me and give me purpose too.

The natural world is the primary source of wonder for me.  Yours may be entirely different.  Perhaps it is a perfectly designed table spread, a mouth-watering meal, a beautifully put-together outfit, the movements of your own body as it works out, a work of art, or something else entirely.

Whatever the case, wonder and awe cause us to transcend the moment we're in and open our mind to a much broader reality.  Moments of wonder make us stop and marvel and the complexity of our God.  We ponder His goodness and sovereignty, or we stop to consider His creativity and omniscience.  We are forced out of the bubble of ourselves and humbled by the One who made us.

Deep in the book of Romans, Paul expresses his own wonder at the overwhelming mercies of God.  He breaks out into a hymn of praise, saying,

Oh, the depth of the riches
and the wisdom and the knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments
and untraceable his ways!

For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?

And who has ever given to God,
that he should be repaid?

For from him and through him
and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33-36 CSB)

While these verses are Paul’s response to God’s masterful plan of salvation for Jew and Gentile alike, they are a beautiful hymn of praise showing Paul’s awe and wonder in God and His ways.  What a fantastic way to praise God for the wonder and awe we experience as we encounter His presence in our lives and our world. 

When was the last time you experienced the wonder of God?

I challenge you (and myself) this week to look for moments of wonder and awe.  When you find your wonder, hold it close for a little while.  Ponder what it reveals about God.  Consider how that one moment changes your perspective on reality.  Let your heart be open to the treasures that God is just waiting to show you.