Awe

Being in Kentucky has been a great experience overall. For one thing, I have been able to witness a much more dramatic unfolding of the seasons! I have seen the green leaves transform into an assortment of colors that even Crayola must envy, I have seen icicles formed on the sides of cliffs turn into trickling waterfalls when the sunrise begins to affect snow-covered landscapes. Daily, there are sights and sounds that are breath-taking; the problem is that we have forgotten how wonderful and beautiful these simple things are. We have become, as Paul David Tripp puts it, “awe-forgetful.”

What is worse is when we do recognize the beauty of a sunset, take pictures of an incredible ocean wave, or enjoy the view from the top of a mountain peak, and yet we fail to recognize and thank the creator who made all of these things.

One of my favorite books released within the last several years has been a book by Tripp entitled: Awe: Why it Matters for Everything We Think, Say, and Do. 
Tripp expresses these sentiments this way,

“God created an awesome world. God intentionally loaded the world with amazing things to leave you astounded. The carefully air-conditioned termite mound in Africa, the tart crunchiness of an apple, the explosion of thunder, the beauty of an orchid, the interdependent systems of the human body, the inexhaustible pounding of the ocean waves, and thousands of other created sights, sounds, touches, and tastes—God designed all to be awesome. And he intended you to be daily amazed.”

Paul David Tripp

Tripp take the time to explain that we are not only wired to be in awe of created things, but that awe is meant to point us back to our creator.

“It’s wrong not to be in awe of what God created, but it’s even more deeply wrong when you can look at created glory without remembering God.” 

Paul David Tripp

He points out that we are in awe of all kinds of things. Our jobs, family, relationships, even the food we eat is connected with what we value and what we are in awe of.
The problem is that we are also “awe-forgetful.”
We experience something amazing and minutes later we are distracted, unthankful, we complain, and we await the next thing to capture our awe.
Even in our relationship with God, if we have trusted in Christ for our salvation, we can forget the awesomeness of what he has done in our lives. We forget and then we build idols in our hearts… choosing to worship creation rather than our creator.
The solution in being in awe of the Lord. Daily reminding ourselves where true awe is to be found.

“Only when awe of God rules your heart will you be able to keep the pleasures of the material world in their proper place.” 

Paul David Tripp

If you’re like me and find that you have often forgotten your awe of who God is and what he has done, I highly recommend this book. If you’re discouraged because you have misplaced your awe, I hope this will be an encouragement again to you to recapture your sense of awe.

Thank you for reading this first of 2019’s weekly word! Please let me know if there’s a book you’d like me to review and read and what book YOU are currently reading in the comments below!
In Christ,
David Bunce