Wonder: Prayers and Poetry

                 Wonder

                Sometimes splashes

                us with surprise

                stunned in awe.

                Or quietly nudges

                us with beauty in

                one small sight.

                Gently washes

                us with His ongoing

                grace and love.

                Whispers daily to comfort

                us when we pause

                with wonder.

Matthew 5:7: "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy."

Possible: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

                        Possible

                       

                        How did you do that

                        Show me the trick

                        Must be a scam

                        Completely impossible

                        Absolutely astonishing

                        Confusion

                        Arguments

                        Moans of fear

                        How is that possible!

                        Silent wonder.

Kingdom Manna

Treasures

Matthew 18: 3, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

The dedicated docent rambled on through the details, emphasizing safety for the giant elephant seals and for us as we prepared to navigate their domain. Sun sparkled sand caught my shy two and a half year olds attention and he kneeled to sift it through tiny fingers. The docent paused mid-sentence. “Amen” my son whispered. “Amen!” he stated emphatically as the narration continued.

Throughout the two hour tour he silently rode his father’s shoulders, eyes dark with wonder. Then as the docent began his summary, “Yes! Jesus loves me” burst from my son’s lips. Startled, we smothered our laughter and moved as far to the back edge as possible. Shh, I touched my finger to his mouth. He reached over, patted me on the cheek, and sang even louder.

That evening we walked out to see the stars in the coastal sky. Astonishment rippled throughout his entire body. My son threw back his head and opened wide his arms.

“I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.” Jesus said.

Too many times I have walked through Your domain Lord with a silent heart and blind eyes to the beauty surrounding me. Instead I swat at mosquitoes, moan at muscle aches, mutter at stumblings. Instead of worshipping You, of awe at Your creation, of wonder at Your details. Expand my sight Lord, to look for You and see You with a child’s eyes.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 119:37

Turn my eyes from looking at vanities;

give me life in your eyes.

Leaving Egypt Behind

Scripture: Exodus 32:16, And the tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing engraved on the tablets.

Written creation. Majestic life. Teeming oceans, teeming insects, teeming cities, teeming stars. Flowers and grasses and shrubs and trees. Cactus to redwoods. Kittens to giraffes, worms to elephants. Parrots, crocodiles, penguins. Sand dunes, rain forests, ice caps. Mountains of lava, mountains of rock, mountains of snow. Streams tricking, rivers raging; wave tossed lakes, mud soaked ponds. Life in nature and universe declaring the work of God’s hands.

Written commandments. Moral law. Simple statements. Staggering commitment. Boundaries for community. Boundaries for conscience. Boundaries of wisdom and righteousness. Boundaries of judgement. “For there is no partiality with God. Who will render to every man according to his deeds.”

Written Christ. Manifest love. Ensconced in mortal flesh. Word of truth, word of grace, word of salvation. God Himself given as a gift to mankind.

Written covenant. Ministry letters. Ambassadors of love’s new commandment. “Being manifest that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts.”

Written by God’s own hand.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 102:18

This will be written for the generation to come;

That a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.

Leaving Egypt Behind

Scripture Exodus: 7:11, Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts.

Exodus: 7:12, For each one threw down his staff and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.

“Work a miracle,” Pharaoh said to Moses and Aaron. Dutiful to God’s earlier instructions, they complied. When Pharaoh’s magicians duplicated the sign, he believed himself within his rights to reject God’s authority. God’s wonder had an explanation. Pharaoh’s own people could replicate it. Never mind that Aaron’s staff swallowed up the others. Further investigation should disclose the secret. Pharaoh proved he had no obligation to relinquish his power to God.

Hands on science museums give all ages an opportunity to reproduce natural phenomena in a structured environment. A crashing tidal wave or teeth jarring earthquake can be experienced without dread. There’s a comfort to knowing such powerful forces have a definition. We retain a sense of control in the face of the unexplainable. Except the deeper we delve into scientific revelations, the deeper the awe. When we describe in biological details the process involved and potential complications of a child’s first nine months, the birth becomes even more miraculous. Beyond human comprehension. Beyond controllable boundaries.

Face to face with God’s power. Creation.

Pharaoh refused God’s reign. “Coincidence,” mankind reasons. “God-incidence,” said one pastor.

Have I settled in accepting absorbable imitations rather than recognizing Your sovereignty in my life?

Perhaps we’ve learned to make little rainbows, Lord, but none can compare to the majesty of Yours. Thank you for displaying Your signs and wonders throughout all Your creation. Thank you for working Your miracles. Thank you for life.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 77:14

Thou art the God who workest wonders;

Thou hast made known Thy strength among the peoples.