Awe & Wonder

Have you ever wondered why we are so captivated by a good story? Across cultures and oceans story is foundational to life. I think this is because we have all, always been part of one. Not just our life story or the story of our lineage, but the Great Story, the one story that has always been and always will be. Are you captivated by Greek or Norse Mythology? Sci-fi? The Marvel Universe? LOTR? Game of Thrones? Fairy tales? I could go on… and on… what about the story of Jesus Christ. Even if you are a professing Christian, can you honestly say that you get lost in the Biblical Narrative the same way you do with these others? What am I getting at?… What if the Biblical Narrative is worth your Awe and Wonder? What if the Word of God actually means what it says, both in the obvious and the obscure? 

Not in a staunch literalist fundamentalist way but in a way that brings to light the treasures that have been hidden both by us (as in the parable where the men are given gifts to use for their Master’s kingdom and one of them literally buries it in the ground. Matthew 25:14-30) and things intentionally hidden from the understanding of men for a time.  (Daniel 12:8-10 “I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, “Oh my lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?” He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.”) 

So, what if the Bible really means what it says, and passages that have been set aside because they are confusing or frightening or seemingly offensive, can actually be bolstered with context, and what could not have been fully understood before our time is beginning to piece itself together? What do we do then? …Same thing as we were always meant to do. Ask the Lord for wisdom and understanding, talk it out together, and then stand in Awe and Wonder of the Author, and His story we all get to be a part of.  

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7 

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.” James 1:5-6