People relegate awe and wonder to the immaturity of small children, but these qualities actually reflect God! We forget that God, himself, has awe and wonder, and he wants us to retain these dignified qualities. God does not want us to think those who have awe and wonder are immature, but rather, to see them as thankful and wise people. So let’s dig deeply into the wonder of life God has given to us.
I talked about this joy in last week’s post (“God’s pleasure vs. the world’s conditional approval.”) God actually expressed delight in the world he created, especially in us, the humans. But God did not stop feeling awe and wonder after he created the world. Let’s look at the lives of godly people of the Bible, even Jesus, and consider how often they expressed awe and wonder.
In two different situations, Jesus expressed wonder (happily) over the faith of gentiles. In Matt. 8:10, Jesus said, “Verily I say unto you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith,” when he encountered a faith-filled centurion who believed Jesus could heal his servant from a distance (and Jesus did heal that servant.) Jesus had similar amazement at a gentile’s faith when she asked Jesus to heal her daughter. In Matt. 15:28, Jesus said, “Oh, woman, great is your faith. Let it be done for you as you desired,” and he healed the woman’s daughter from a distance too. In another instance, we Jesus’ sad amazement, Mark 6:6, “He was amazed at their unbelief.”
In addition to his amazement and awe over people, Jesus also expressed delight and joy in the Lord. He expressed joy in the Holy Spirit as he considered people’s faith, in Luke 10:21, “At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, ‘O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.” Furthermore, we see Jesus’ delight in people in Hebrews 12:2b which says, “For the joy set before him, enduring the cross, scorning its shame.” We are that joy.
When people saw Jesus heal a man, they expressed their awe and wonder in Luke 5:26, “Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, ‘We have seen remarkable things today,” and Jesus did not rebuke them for their awe but received it. In fact, God commands us to express our awe, the way he did in Psalm 65:8, “The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.” If you are ever depressed, read that entire Psalm, because it is full of God’s goodness for us (giving to us bountifully) and I pray this Psalm would cause you to remember your sense of awe again.
But what if you are depressed, and life has become dull? Perhaps you feel like the old man in Ecclesiastes, who found life meaningless, and at the end of his life (chapter 12:5) his “desire fails.” When a person is depressed or just grieving, it is hard to find wonder and awe. Even Solomon, author of Ecclesiastes, said, in 3:4a, “there is a time to mourn.” We do mourn, and it is harder to express our “oohs,” and “aws” over life when we grieve. But mourning is not forever, as the second half of verse 4 says, “a time to rejoice.” We do heal. And once we heal, we must look for the joy, and the wonder in our lives again.
If you have had sufficient time to mourn, and it is time to heal, I invite you to seek wonder and awe in life again; why? We do this, not just because God commands this response, but also because God himself expresses wonder and awe. God knows that when we see something greater than we are, we must express this wonder. To deny our wonder is to shut off part of being human. Sociopaths, and deeply depressed people have shut this off (not always by choice) but we do not want to model our lives after them. Atheists often express disdain for those who still retain a sense of wonder and awe. But this says something about their hearts. They have shut off God, and now they suffer with a dry, hopeless life where they believe their lives end when they die. They have no concept of the eternity that awaits all people. So they try to act unimpressed with God and his creation.
Children are too young to pretend to not be impressed with the things they encounter in life. They do not hide their joy, wonder and awe (nor their disappointment and disgust, but that is another matter.) And did Jesus say children are fools? No, he said many good things about the innocence of children. In John 18:17, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” I already mentioned Luke 10:21, where Jesus said God had revealed his will to the childlike. So please trust me, and trust the Bible that you must find your sense of awe and wonder again.
My teen daughters, Lindsey and Amy, really help me retain my sense of awe and wonder. They laugh so easily, and they get excited about life. They are amazed about so many things. If I brush off their wonder and awe, they scold me, and this is a loving chiding that redirects me back to my sense of joy and wonder again.
It may seem scary to express wonder at things. You may have forgotten how to enjoy life on such a simple level. But the sense of wonder enables us to experience intense contentment. The cliché “Smell the roses,” is actually a good truth to begin with. Let yourself enjoy your five senses, including smell. There are things in your life that are pleasant, and you must seek them again. You need to consider the things you like, and please don’t assume I mean the expensive things you do not have now. I refer to the things in your life now. Is there any food you truly enjoy? Consider how God gave it to you, and savor its flavor and smell. Slow down and really enjoy that food or beverage. Don’t gobble it up too fast. Let yourself be amazed by how good it smells and tastes. God gave us these amazing taste buds, and an amazing ability to feel pleasure when we smell good things. Did you know cats lack the taste buds to perceive sweets? So they cannot enjoy them the way we can. Oh the wonder of this truth (and the joy of eating sweet foods.)
Is there a sound you enjoy, from a song you like, to a child laughing, to a bird singing, to anything else your ears enjoy? Hold still for a moment and savor that sound. Enjoy the wonder of having a sense of hearing. Animals need to use hearing for communication, not pleasure. Hearing for pleasure is a gift God reserved only for us. What a wonder that humans get to make sounds (musical instruments, singing, etc.) just for pleasure!
Are their things or people your eyes enjoy, from a pretty flower, to the sky, to beloved people or pets, and anything else you enjoy looking at? Perhaps you once looked at your sleeping child and felt wonder that God had enabled you to bring her or him into the world. Or you may have once thought how amazing this person is who loves and accepts you, but now you have forgotten that joy over this person. Have you forgotten the joy you once had in that item or person? Jesus had a warning for the Ephesians in Rev.2:4-5 when they forgot their first love, “Yet I hold this against you; you have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come and remove your lamp stand from its place.” I am sure you have not fallen as far as the Ephesians fell. But you may have slipped away from your wonder and awe and your joy. Remember “the joy of the Lord is your strength,” Nehemiah 8:10. I could add, “The awe and wonder of the Lord is your joy,” so if you need strength, you also need joy. And like the Ephesians, you may need to think back to your younger self who had awe and wonder in life. God can help you find that awe and wonder. Fools do not have awe and wonder, only the wise people have it, just like Jesus has it.
Finally, the best reason to have awe and wonder is because of God himself. He is all powerful, yet gentle with hurting people. He is wise and pure, yet he forgives our sins and foolishness. He is patient with us, despite our constant wanderings. God is amazing, yet he adores us. The best reason to have awe and wonder is to have it because of who God is and because he adores us, despite our sins. He redeems and cleanses us so we can be holy too! Hebrews 12:28 sums it up: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.”
I pray you now realize that anyone who criticizes you for your sense of awe and wonder is the fool, while you are the wise person. And if you have lost your wonder, please do not feel shame. You may be grieving or you may have gotten so busy, you forgot your first love, like Martha did when she frantically tried to serve Jesus, but her sister, Mary, sat at Jesus’ feet, listening to him (Luke 10:41-42.) God can redirect you to your first love, your joy, your wonder and awe. He can heal you if you are hurting and need that joy and wonder again. Please come to him and ask him. And feel free to ask me too, and I can pray for you.
Thanks for joining us in this week’s post. I pray you enjoy your life richly this week, with awe and wonder.