Wonder: Week 3
“Wonder Wonder Who Wrote the book of Love.”
Zephaniah 3:17 — “For the LORD your God is living among you.”
PRESENCE — God shows up in places no one expected.
[Exodus 3:1-4 NLT] 1 One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn't burn up. 3 "This is amazing," Moses said to himself. "Why isn't that bush burning up? I must go see it." 4 When the LORD saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, "Moses! Moses!" "Here I am!" Moses replied.
PEOPLE — God uses people no one expected.
[1 Samuel 16:7 NLT] 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
PROCESS — Isaiah 55:8–9 God works in ways no one expected.
[Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT] 8 "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
POSSIBILITY — God accomplishes what no one thought was possible.
[Matthew 19:26 NLT] 26 Jesus looked at them intently and said, "Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible."
PAUSE — Wonder begins when we stop long enough to notice what God is doing.
[Psalm 143:5] “I remember the days of old. I ponder all your great works and think about what you have done.”
Pause allows us to remember God's past faithfulness, which restores wonder in the present.
The wonder of God is often already around us, but we can move through life too quickly to recognize it. Moses had to turn aside and look at the burning bush. The shepherds had to leave their fields and go to Bethlehem. The disciples had to watch Jesus carefully enough to begin asking, “Who is this?”
Wonder begins when we slow down, pay attention, and recognize that God may be present and working in ways we did not expect.
Sometimes the question is not, Is God doing something wonderful? Rather, is it, am I paying enough attention to see it? As psalms 37:14 tells us to “stop and consider the wonderful miracles of God”!
Pause allows us to remember God's past faithfulness and miracles which restores wonder in the present.
Wonder and Ponder:
Wonder and Ponder
Wonder causes us to pause.
Ponder causes us to weigh the significance of what we have seen.
The WONDER of God is that He is all up in our lives, we can observe it when we ponder. In doing so we see His love for us in that He doesn’t merely tell us He loves us—He shows us.
[Romans 5:8] “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”
