Articles
Being a Child of God: Wonder-Filled
"You have multiplied, O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told." - Psalm 40:5
When was the last time you marveled at something?
For some of us, an easier question might be, "When was the first time you marveled at something?" I think many of us can relate to feeling this special kind of magic when we are little. Christmas morning, the first trip to an amusement park, visiting a natural wonder of the world--all these experiences and more have captivated us at one time or another.
Wonder is a natural response when we come into contact with something of significance outside of ourselves. You never have to be taught awe. To be amazed in this way is to have a genuine, authentic realization that you are face to face with something profound, immense, terrifying or impressive.
As the psalmist makes plain in the verse above, God is the ultimate source of wonder and awe. When we see God with open spiritual eyes, we will never cease to have raised eyebrows and dropped jaws. And should we find ourselves opposed to such an awesome God, we have no excuse: we can only cover our mouths and repent (Job 39:3-5; Job 42:1-6).
If this is the case, then why do we lose our sense of wonder with our Maker? Maybe we lose heart when He doesn't deliver in the way we think He should. Maybe we've seen too much sin and sadness in our life to appreciate all the good He ordains. Or maybe, just maybe, we put God in a box and presume what He can or can't do, will or won't accomplish, should or shouldn't care about.
Let's realize this one thing: God has already done incredibly more than we could ask or imagine by sacrificing His son in our stead. Any providence He continues to provide us in this life is further proof of His limitless love, grace and mercy for us.
I think (to borrow a phrase from a song) we wish our lives look more like the book of Exodus rather than Ruth. We expect to come to what may be touched: fire! darkness! gloom! A tempest and a loud, booming Voice (Hebrews 12:18-21). But keep reading there in Hebrews: what we come to as children of God, while it's not seen or felt in a physical way, is much more awesome than Mount Sinai.
"But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel."
If you've lost your wonder with your heavenly Father--His love, grace, mercy, power, wisdom, providence--then you're spiritual eyes have been closed. If you are a child of God, you are in the midst of the scene described above. Whether you experience the created beauty that is His handiwork, or witness the effect of the one true gospel in a soul's journey in this mortal veil, you have reason to marvel.
"Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:28-29).
