A CONSTANT STATE OF WONDER

A CONSTANT STATE OF WONDER

There are many things in this world that produce the state of wonder.  For example, infants leave me speechless as they show their personalities almost from the moment of birth.  A three-month-old baby is laughing.  You wonder, how does he know what’s funny?  Then there are wonders of modern medicine.  Doctors can reverse HIV in infants while they are still in the womb!  Then there is technology, the best example being that NASA sent a rover they named Oppy (Short for Opportunity) to Mars in 2004 for what they thought would be 90 days of sending back data. The wonder is that Oppy died in February 2019. Because it was so much a part of their lives, the research team wept at its demise. These are just samples of the wonders on earth. 

There is also a spiritual state of wonder, but this is one  that should not be. 

People go through life wondering, “Why did God do this?”or “Why didn’t God do this? What is God’s will for me?”Life is random at best, and trying to figure out what God wants while at the same time trying to deal with life, is very difficult. That probably isn’t God’s will. 

I don’t think God ever intended for us to be in a constant state of wondering what He is up to.  From the time God first spoke to humans, he was quite clear about what he wants from us.  He scolded them for sacrificing animals, telling them he wanted only that they love one another.  He said we would not find him in violent weather, but in a whisper.  He scolded them for making reverence for the Sabbath a chore. He said that man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for man.

Then he came himself in the person of Jesus.  He repeated all those things and more, and by example showed us how God wants us to live. It may be that the simplicity of it is too much for people.  If God ever did speak to the world out loud, I think he might ask, “What part of love one another don’t you get?”

Instead of worrying about what God is thinking, we would all be better off if we simply trusted his presence.  The knowledge of the presence of God makes it possible to bear the burdens.  They are not going to be any less painful, but you will have the strength you need to cope, simply because you are fully aware that God cares.  God gave us free will. We can’t want to be free to live our lives as we see fit, and at the same time expect God to solve our problems for us. 

King David, whose relationship with God was rock solid despite his failures, wrote in Psalm 139: “You have probed me, you know me.  You encircle me and rest your hand upon me. Your right hand guides me and holds me fast.”

God is not deaf to us, and as Jesus said, “God knows what you need, before you ask.”  

Trust in Him. That is where peace lies.  That’s the true wonder. 

Blessings

Carol Lemelin OPA