In yesterday’s devotion Pastor Paul David Tripp shared the following: “I came to see that I was wired for awe, that awe of something sits at the bottom of everything I say and do. But I wasn’t just wired for awe. I was wired for awe of God. No other awe satisfies the soul. No other awe can give my heart the peace, rest, and security that it seeks. I came to see that I needed to trace awe of God down to the most mundane of human decisions and activities.”1
I will never forget the time when I went on a high school trip to way upstate New York and looked at the night sky. I literally saw hundreds of stars and I stood in awe at this magnificent sight. It was just like being in a planetarium gazing at these tiny points of light against the pitch-black sky. Nature has a wonderful way of bringing out the awe in all of us. Back as a teenager I didn’t believe in God but yet when I saw the stars that day little did I realize that the awe I expressed was really in the God who placed these stars in their orbits. For you see the real awe is in contemplating how could these super giant bodies of light come into being.
Looking at the stars above, watching the rushing majestic waters of a giant waterfall, or gazing at the beauty of a multicolored butterfly, brings out the awe in all of us. But this awe, which I strongly believe we are wired for, only truly benefits us when we again contemplate the God who created these wonders. For it is only when we stand in awe at the God who created these objects of our amazement that, in the words of Pastor Tripp, we find satisfaction for our soul.
I believe that not only are we wired for awe, but when we allow our awe to be primarily focused on the Creator more than His creation, that it leads us not only to worship God, but to hold Him in the highest esteem. For awe left alone only leads to us marveling in nature, while awe focused on the God who created these amazing sights leads to worship, peace, joy, and a deep sense of inner contentment.
So, the next time you stand in awe at God’s creation, lift your eyes toward the heavens and marvel at the God who not only created the objects of your awe but gave you the capacity to experience the feelings of awe. And never forget that we are all wired for awe and that when our true awe is in the God of the universe our souls will experience maximum satisfaction and joy. To stand in awe at creation and forget the Creator only leads to a temporary state of exhilaration. But to stand in awe at the Creator leads to a state of worship and deep and abiding joy.
My friends standing in awe of God is something I believe we have too often forgotten, because we are so busy dwelling on ourselves, instead of Jesus. May you take some time to reflect on our amazing universe and the God who created it all! And my prayer is when you do this you will be filled with a deep sense of marvel, mystery, and awe!
1 Inspirational Quotes by Paul David Tripp (bibleportal.com)