Week 4 - Awe
This week in summary| Day 1 : A Community in Awe | Isaiah 66 |
| Day 2 : How Great is God | Psalm 46 & 97 |
| Day 3 : Immersed in Wonder | Job 38-41 |
| Day 4 : Prepare | Isaiah |
| Day 5 : Common Growth | 2 Kings 22 |
A Community in Awe
When you last saw a sunset that was so breathtaking that you couldn't believe it - what did you say? When you held a precious new baby in your arms for the first time - what words came out? Imagine the last time that something ... anything took your breath away. Did you really saw "Awesome"? I'll venture a guess that if you said anything it was something small - maybe barely verbal, like "wow" or "oh".
Consider, how do you really verbalize awe and wonder? For most of us - it's in our silence that we really show our Awe.
So what does a community in awe look like? If you believe anything you just read, then it is a community more often in silence than one constantly going on and on verbalizing. It is taking the deep inward breath and soaking it in. A community in awe is one that is more often in quiet reverence and respect to God. This can manifest itself in many ways: like at the closing of a worship service when His presence is felt in a powerful way.
But yet we have the danger of living as though God is mundane. I have been in gatherings of believers and heard such things as "Awe and reverence are an Old Testament concept...it's not needed anymore." That should shock us to our core. God is awe inspiring! This should not diminish as God reveals more of himself. Knowledge of God does not extinguish our sense of wonder, rather it is a catalyst that wonder should grow.
So If we truly believe that God is worthy of Awe - how do we show it? And beyond that - how do we show it together. The world has customs to show honor, manners to show respect - but awe...? Awe is unheard of, even for "religious" folk. To speak well of someone is expected and is courtesy. But to show speechless wonder in anyone's presence doesn't make sense to most in the world.
When Awe is mentioned in the bible, many times it is mentioned in tandem with amazement and fear at someone so powerful. Everything He does strikes fear and wonder in us. These are two seemingly opposite emotions but in knowing God, they go hand in hand.
Do we really know what being "Awesome" is? It is a part of knowing the Almighty God - one who is so high above, untouchable, powerful, mighty and frightening but yet is so present, available, close, intimate and loving. This is what is so wild and wonderful about this journey. Getting to know God is to know Him in his wonder, his warmth and love.
So where does this leave us in terms of dealing with a dangerous and unwieldy God? I think we have to dance this delicate dance by truly enjoying the intimacy we enjoy with God while at the same constantly reminding ourselves who we are dancing with. That this partner is (as C.S. Lewis put it in describing Aslan) not safe - but good. If we approach God in this way, we have a truer view of Him.
How Great is God
Louie Giglio spoke once about how great God is by describing the wonders of the universe He created.
As we think about our place on Earth, consider for a moment that the Sun is so massive it could swallow the Earth and 960,000 planets of similar size.
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by his breath all their host.
Psalm 33:6
Consider also the star Antares which is 600 million times larger than the Sun. But VY Canis Majoris could consume the Sun and 2.8 billion stars. It is larger than seven quadrillion planets like earth - that's 7,000,000,000,000,000. Comparing our beautiful home planet to Canis Majoris would be like putting a golf ball deep inside Mt Everest and asking a blind man to find it. All the wonders of Earth are a tiny fraction of the miracles God has done.
"Sin has a way of shrinking God down in our minds and puffing us up in our own estimation, but just a glance into the universe that God has made resizes everything in a heartbeat."
God - this immense loving God - cares about us down to the finest of details. Louie describes a relatively unknown part of the human body called Laminin, the protein that holds cells together. Here is a molecular diagram of the substance that literally holds you together:
For by (Christ) all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things were created through him and for him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
1 Col 1:16-17
We worship a star breathing God who holds together every cell in your body and apparently he signed his work.
Immersed in Wonder
Why in our sophisticated society do we treat someone with imagination as childish? Wonder is healthy. Losing wonder is tragic. How can we get it back? The answer is surprisingly simple: trust God and do what He says.
Be afraid
Let's start with fear. Fear is our primal response to imminent significant danger. Fear overwhelms our attention and heightens our senses. Fear tells us what's of dire importance.
The Bible repeatedly gives two statements about fear.
"Fear the LORD."
After all God is greater than any life and death situation you may face so fear the Lord. For everything else:
"Don't be afraid."
Fear indicates significance in our minds so make sure that is occupied by God and God alone.
Rest
When it comes to resting, God didn't just drop a command instructing us to rest, it was so important that God stopped working and rested so that we would follow suit.
So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
Genesis 2:3
Resting calms us, removes stress. It helps us to recognize what's really important in life. Regular rest helps us to recognize the significance of God so that our fear is rightly aligned.
Get Perspective
Rest clears the insignificant out of our perspective so that we can see the influence of God in the everyday. For example we go into McDonald's expecting to encounter a hamburger but God is just as present in McDonald's so why don't we expect to encounter God? Resting allows us to realign our perspective so we can better recognize the handy work of the God who is smitten by us.
Quite often the enemy of healthy perspective is ego. It's hard to appreciate wonder in anything or anyone when all I ever think about is myself. Get over yourself. Or to put it another way:
Humble yourselves before the LORD, and he will lift you up.
James 4:10
Common Growth
What needs to take place in order to accomplish your goal?
How do those essential elements lead to growth?
What sustains and grows your team?
What are the vital elements that keep the team healthy and growing?
How is growth vital to accomplishing your team's goal?
Prayer time: How will my team grow?