Wonder has gone missing.
It’s true.
The problem with most of us is we have lost our wonder of God.
We say we love Him—and I suppose we do.
We say we worship Him—and no doubt we try.
But a sense of His otherness, His transcendence, that gut feeling of awe and mystery and an all-consuming fire…for most of us, that’s not our experience with the Most High God.
But I saw wonder this week in an unexpected place. I was out on a long walk with one-year-old Caleb Jaeger, our grandson, when we passed by a “splash pad.” For the uninitiated, a splash pad is a not-quite swimming pool for tiny tots. Sprinklers and pipes of all shapes shower the little ones, and they absolutely love it.
Once under the sprinkler, one year old Caleb sat there for the longest time letting the water run right over him. I watched as his pudgy fingers attempted to trace the path of the wet bubbles. You could see his mouth open and close repeatedly as he tasted the water dribbling off his nose.
The look on his face was one of complete awe. He was mesmerized. Literally drenched in wonder. Every single one of his five senses was actively recording data to his one-year-old hard drive.
THIS…is what wonder looks like. It’s a feeling of sensory overload. Of marvel and mystery and mystical all converged.
So back to my opening assessment that for most of us, wonder about God has shriveled up like an October tomato left on the vine.
If it’s true we lost it, how do we regain this wonder? Maybe it’s not unlike the solution for couples whose relationship has gone cold. It’s simply a choice to notice, to acknowledge greatness in all its forms—little and big. Global…and local. Wherever God’s fingerprints are visible.
It’s time to regain our sense of wonder of God.