It’s almost Christmas Ya’ll… Can you believe it? I was sitting at my desk in my classroom last week. It was lunch time. My brain was tapped out…I needed a little down time. So, I decided to pull up the app on my phone and watch a Christmas movie during my lunch. For any of you that know me… I get excited about Christmas. Well, actually I get excited about a lot of things, but Christmas is just one of my favorites. So, the movie choice… drum roll please… “Rise of the Guardians”! For any of you that have not watched this, it is absolutely one of my favorites. In this movie all our childhood favorites, the “Guardians”, the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy, Sand Man, and Jack Frost are working together to defeat, fear, “The Boogey Man”. In the Movie, there is a huge globe that lights up to represent all the kids around the world that “believe” in the guardians. Long story short, “Pitch” the boogey man, wants fear to overcome belief. As the movie progresses, the lights on the globe start to go out. Jack Frost asks this question to Pitch…”Why are the lights going out?”. “The Boogey Man, Pitch” makes this profound statement, “When the Wonder disappears, Fear sets in!”. My goodness, I have been thinking about this statement this entire week. “When the Wonder disappears, Fear sets in.” That will preach, Ya’ll. This past year has been such a time of uncertainty and change. We never know what is going to happen from one moment to the next. Can I find toilet paper or not… Can we go to school or not… Do we visit loved ones or not…. Somewhere in the midst of the uncertainty and shift from what we called “normal”, I believe many have lost the “Wonder”! Many have allowed fear to set in, and the “Wonder” has begun to disappear. Come on somebody… Your life may have been flipped upside down this year, but the fact that “God is still God” should be what sustains and carries us, not the circumstances we are sitting in. Maybe for some, this year, with all it’s craziness, has not been as bad as years past. I don’t know where you find yourself as you are reading this, but I do know this…We all have our struggles, battles, and joys…But this one thing I am sure of… I know who my God is! I started to read in the book of Psalm 40:1-5 (NLT)
I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. 3 He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.
4 Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord, who have no confidence in the proud or in those who worship idols. 5 O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them.
Then I went to Luke 5:26 where Jesus had just healed a lame man and forgave him of his sins…
25 And immediately, as everyone watched, the man jumped up, picked up his mat, and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was gripped with great wonder and awe, and they praised God, exclaiming, “We have seen amazing things today!”
And Psalms 33:8 says…
6 The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born. 7 He assigned the sea its boundaries and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs. 8 Let the whole world fear the Lord, and let everyone stand in awe of him. 9 For when he spoke, the world began! It appeared at his command.
My goodness, somewhere along the way we have lost the “WONDER”. See, with one word, My God created the heavens and the earth. At the sound of his voice, lame walk, blind see, and sinners are saved. Somewhere in the midst of trials, uncertainty, loss, we have allowed “fear” to set in and it has blurred our vision and invaded our hearts. Oh, I’m sure you have heard it more than once over the last several months,… “God is in Control”! I know you heard it… but are you believing it?!!! Here is what the dictionary says about “Wonder”… the feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected or inexplicable; Exciting amazed admiration; effective far beyond anything previously known or anticipated. That will about make you shout! We’ve got to bring the wonder back, ya’ll. My God can do the unexplainable… My God is able to do far beyond anything I have already seen… and I’ve seen him do the miraculous in our life… But he desires to show up in our lives even GREATER than anything we’ve experienced before. We’ve lost the Wonder! This world, now more than ever, needs the “Wonder”. You, as a child of God, are in the most exciting time of your life… you are on the front lines, my friend. People are looking for something that will change the course of their lives and you are God’s hands and feet. You carry the promise of the world in your heart and life.
The atmosphere should shift when you enter a room… People should recognize there is something different. Oh, that those we encounter should be so drawn to the presence of God by our lives. You may need to take some time over the next few days and write down those times that you saw God work so unexplainably in your life… Bring the “Wonder” back. You may need to ask God to help you put Him in the rightful place in your life…Bring the “Wonder” back. You may need to step out of your comfort zone and do what God has been prompting you to do… Bring the “Wonder” back. I am praying for you today. For each of you that reads this post, I am praying that God rise up such a spirit inside of you that will not allow fear to creep in, but will see the Glory of God surround you and compel you to be the child of God he has called you to be for “Such a time as this”.
