The Wonder of It All

We are surrounded by wonders!

Last Sunday, our little church sang an old hymn right out of the hymnal. It was written 117 years ago, but it couldn’t have felt more fresh to me. George Beverly Shea wrote it, who was known for singing “Just As I Am,” during Billy Graham’s famous crusades.

The hymn is titled, “The Wonder of It All.”

There’s the wonder of sunset at evening,
The wonder as sunrise I see;
But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul
Is the wonder that God loves me.

O, the wonder of it all!
The wonder of it all!
Just to think that God loves me.
O, the wonder of it all!
The wonder of it all!
Just to think that God loves me.

There’s the wonder of springtime and harvest,
The sky, the stars, the sun;
But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul
Is the wonder that’s only begun.

And that, my friends, is just how I feel whenever I look around at this beautiful world that God made! The beauty of nature drives my heart and mind to focus on the One who created it all.

Some of you may remember the year that I spent photographing the sunrise every day. That project completely changed me in so many ways. For one, I pay a lot closer attention to the skies, during all times of day, not just during sunrise. For another, it gave me a lot of alone time to just makes sense of things, and pray.

The wisdom of man is opposed to the wisdom of God. That is one big take-away I learned. It’s not that we have to throw out our logic; to the contrary, it was part of the gift God gave us when He granted us consciousness. Rather, it’s that we submit our mind to God’s will. We ask Him to direct our thinking, and to guide us into the paths that He chooses.

God is the origin of all of creation, and in the same way, He is the origin of creativity. I finally realized that every time I feel “in the flow,” or as if I have reached a higher plane of sensitivity, that is the Holy Spirit within me.

That relaxed–yet alert–dreamy state when I get my best ideas, or when the words in my mind arrange themselves into a poem, or when I begin to ache to just make something; those are times when God is moving through me, empowering me, helping me to produce (whatever it is) according to His will.

“For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13)

Obedience is God’s “love language.” When we obey Him, we tell Him in a way that He accepts, that we love Him. And to illustrate, I’m going to re-tell a story from the Sunrise Project. I think I’ve written about this story before, so forgive me if you have already read it, but it’s so perfect for this that I want to share it again.

When I was still doing the “Sunrise project,” I was out one morning a little later than usual, and as I rushed to the spot I had planned (which was away from the trees, and had a clear eastern horizon), I felt a “push” to turn down an unfamiliar dirt road. Because I was late, I was going too fast to stop; by the time I obeyed and began braking, I had passed the road.

I never even knew that road was there. There are lots of little roads in this part of the country, some of which are little more than a way for the farmer to get to his field. Some are so narrow that it’s hard to get a truck down them.

I had glanced down the road as I went past, fully expecting to find someone who had broken down, or an injured dog or something, but it was empty. I turned around at the next possible place and headed back, this time more slowly. Perhaps it was a child? I was grumbling a little in my spirit because I knew that the moments were ticking by, and the sun was very near to rising. I realized that I probably wouldn’t make my destination now, in time to see it break over the edge.

I found the road and turned in, pushing past the branches that had grown over at the corner. I drove slowly, looking from side to side to find whatever the problem was. Nothing. I kept going, almost a half a mile now, still nothing. I kept glancing back up at the little patch of sky, checking the light to see if the sun had risen yet.

Suddenly, the foliage cleared, and I saw a perfect little field-access driveway. Across from the parking spot, over a bare field to the east, was a perfect view of the sunrise. There were no trees, no houses, and no farm equipment; no one was there! So I backed in.

I settled myself, got the camera ready, and waited for about 30 seconds. And there it was, that tiny bright-red sliver on the horizon! I was delighted to have a front-row seat for the best show in the world at that moment! The light shot out all around that disk of sun, and I did my best to capture it. I was busy taking pictures for a while, and when the sun had fully risen, the light changed, and it was time to leave.

I checked in quickly with the Lord, asking Him if I was supposed to go further down the road to look for whatever it was that needed my help, and I felt his voice in my mind, almost sadly, say,

“I only wanted to bless you.”

I could hear my heartbeat in my ears because it was so still. I was quiet, humbled and awed. God wanted to bless me!

I bowed my head in repentance. All that time I had been trying to hurry and get through whatever God wanted me to do so that I could do my own thing, but I was the one who needed help, and He had been helping.

I repented for assuming that God didn’t care what I wanted. After all, He was showing me a short-cut so I wouldn’t be late. He was just as excited to show me the sunrise as I was to see it. It was His show I was rushing to watch!

It took a little bit to process it all. I remembered that God doesn’t need me, but He loves me. He wants to include me in His plans. He wants me to be like Him. He wants to be with me, and to reward me for obedience.

God loves me, and He loves you, and He is good. We must never, ever forget that. The trials and tribulations that He allows us to walk through are for our good, and He is right there with us in the midst of it all. (Romans 8:28; James 1:2-4)

I know I’m not the only one to get caught up in my own goals, and miss what God has for me. But I don’t want to keep doing it. The lesson of what happened that day has stayed with me ever since, and I have had to review it more than once.

“He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:3)

The path of righteousness for me that morning was a dirt-track! It was a short-cut to a front row seat–the best possible place to see the sunrise. God had prepared it for me, and I almost missed it.

God knows us inside and out. He understands our desires, and He wants to encourage us to become who we were always meant to be. Not “our best self” according to man’s wisdom, because then we would be miserable.

He wants us to be our most holy, dedicated-to-God self; His precious child, so perfectly in tune with His will that we pause when He tells us to, so we can see the wonders that He wants us to see. And sometimes, the treasure is at the end of a dirt road that everyone else just drives right by. If we go where everyone else is headed, we will miss it. Our Father has set our blessings apart, just for us.

I have never again been able to find that little spot, no matter how many times I have tried. I can’t even find the dirt road. After what happened, I planned to bring my family back to show them that perfect place, but I have never been able to get back there again. God did something special for me that morning, and it is not repeatable.

Wonders are all around us, because God wants to bless us in lots of little ways. He blesses in big ways, too, but we tend to notice them more. I pray you remember this story, and realize that God has plans to bless you, too. But we have to slow down and listen to Him. Ask Him what He has prepared for you, and He will show you!

Here are some of our blessings this week; the ones I was able to take a picture of, anyway!

Have a wonderful week, my dear friends. Keep your eyes open and prepare your hearts for the wonder of it all! Watch for the blessings that God has prepared for you!

Much love!