A young friend of mine wrote a good blog entry recently concerning thoughts and ideas growing in her heart and upon which she is musing (“Not a Lot of Answers Here”). I prefer questions with answers, even if I don’t presently have access to the answers. You see, there are no effects (results, outcomes) without causes (agents).
I reference her blog entry because the concept of wonder with which she begins her entry has precipitated a fair amount of musing in my mind over the years. Wonder is “The emotion aroused by something awe-inspiring, astounding, or surprising.” (1) I have concluded that wonder drives passion for life and God. Someone who lacks wonder, or even worse, has lost wonder, has lost desire to live or know God (2).
For all of their good deeds and right theology, God says to the Ephesian church, “I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” (3) In the details and mundane, they had drifted from passion and wonder of God to being merely responsible. Now, don’t get me wrong, in the temporary absence of wonder, be responsible. Going off the rails just adds to the dullness of spirit and shame. But take God’s advice to the Ephesians, “Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first.” (4) Spend time with God. Enjoy Him. Slow down and enjoy His gifts and be thankful, so that your body, mind, and spirit can again experience wonder. Do you understand what I have just said? Wonder drives passion for God, and passion for God feeds wonder. The more you know of Him, the more amazed you are. The more amazed you are, the more you seek to know Him.
God is displeased with the priests when He says, ““Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of hosts, “nor will I accept an offering from you. For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord of hosts. “But you are profaning it, in that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is to be despised.’ You also say, ‘My, how tiresome it is!’ And you disdainfully sniff at it,” says the Lord of hosts, “and you bring what was taken by robbery and what is lame or sick; so you bring the offering! Should I receive that from your hand?” says the Lord.” (5) They have no passion for the things of God because they have no wonder and awe (6) toward Him. They “get by” with unacceptable worship, but God is not fooled. Their hearts are not in it, because they have no love for God, resulting from no passion for God, resulting from no wonder at how beautiful, great, powerful, kind, and awesome God is.
A related idea, I think, is the saying that I have heard several times recently: “The heart wants what the heart wants.” I would say that this statement is true, but its implication is not. Jeremiah says, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (7) So, yes, in the face of what is right or reasonable or kind or even self-preserving, the heart wants what it wants. However, that does not mean it must have and will eventually get what it wants, at all cost. If the heart is made to dwell on what is “true, … honorable, … right, … pure, … lovely, … of good repute, … any excellence and … worthy of praise” (8), it may be redirected away from its evil desires. This redirection will not happen apart from the work of the Spirit of God, however. (9)
If I might now be so bold as to answer my young friend’s question, “Is wonder something that clings to these extraordinary, beautiful moments like the pinks and oranges dancing in front of me?” I think that her implication is that there is another option: Wonder could exist in the mundane, repetitive, and even boring. So, which is it? Must we chase or create ‘beautiful moments’ to experience wonder, or may it appear at other times, even in less than beautiful moments. “You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” (10) Living in His presence, ever trusting and clinging to Him, is the pathway to wonder. Being human with sinful tendencies, I will not always dwell there, and frequently life throws ugly difficulty my way, but the more that I trust and cling to His presence, the more wonder, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (11) I will experience. I will see that wonder in Him and in all that He has created and sustains.
- The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- Wonder appears in the lives of those who have no interest in God. In Humanism, wonder arises from what boosts self, the god of the Humanist. I would designate Humanism as the only other belief system apart from Christianity, all others being subsets of this self-worship.
- Revelation 2:4
- Revelation 2:5a
- Malachi 1;10-13
- AWE Definition & Meaning – Merriam-Webster
- Jeremiah 17:9
- from Philippians 4:8
- Romans 8:1-11
- Psalm 16:11
- Galatians 5:22-23
CreatorWorship 