Legacy Ladies Note: This blog series is inspired by For the Life of the World, a film series that explores the deeper meaning of salvation. It discusses how we can steward every economy in our lives (creative service, wonder, the church, etc.) to proclaim God’s glory, so that the world might come to know Him. This is the third article in this series.
By Rachel Gardner
The ability to wonder is a beautiful, abstract experience that is often drowned out by the distractions of the day. We are too stimulated to stop and behold, to marvel, to think about and draw beauty from, to meditate on the marvelous things of our world, and, therefore, to appreciate them more fully.
As we begin to wonder about wonder, ask yourself, “What is required in order to wonder? Do we have to physically be somewhere, or is it a mindset we adopt? Or both?”
Wonder is ultimately God-honoring and for the life of the world because all the things we are marveling at have been created by God.
Even if something is “man made,” God created men and women with the ability to create something beautiful, and furthermore, He created our simple human hearts with the ability to see it and declare it beautiful. I don’t know about you, but that brings a smile to my face. Our God is that caring, that thoughtful, that detail-oriented to create so many beautiful people and beautiful things. And He created us to respond with joy when we wonder at something and deem it beautiful. He placed that joy in our hearts.
He wants us to wonder, and revel, and behold, and dream because it helps us realize the creative potential He has placed in us as His beloved creation. It contributes to the life of the world because it removes the focus from us and onto the Source of our wondering and the Source of the wonderful.
In Psalm 27:4, David asks to “dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of [his] life, and to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple,” and Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” I read that verse as both literal and abstract because God has enabled us to experience things physically (tasting or seeing) and spiritually (feeling convicted or being moved). These verses are about beholding God and experiencing the goodness He has given us.
Because of the wonderful, extravagant sacrifice of Jesus, we are reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:18) and can have a personal relationship with Him. I can meditate on that all day long and still be in awe.
“Behold” is one of my favorite words in the Bible because of how it’s commanding, yet tender. I love the way the study defines behold as “to wonder at the beauty, abundance, and truth within God’s creation.” How extraordinary that the God of the universe gives us freedom to do that. Wow. Just wow.
Legacy Ladies 