The Wonder Of It All

Remember the show "The Wonder Years"? It was a comedy that parodied those growing up days that were literally both the best of times and the worst of times.

Once we hit adulthood we often lose touch with wonder in our life. Baggage heaps heavy on our shoulders and life's pressures can seem to choke any wonder out of our life. The only wonder left is the bread you buy for your kids!

Contrast that existence with the life of following Jesus when He says in Matthew 11:28-30,
"Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light."

What Jesus is saying is to let go of everything that's not from him: destructive thought patterns; addictions; harmful behaviors and being lost in the past. Sometimes we're not conscious of what we're holding on to so we are instructed in Philippians 4:8 instead to

"Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."

Learning to shift our gaze from the harmful to the lovely is the journey of personal transformation. It is an act of opening up our eyes and seeing more clearly than ever. In order to even attempt this we need to slow ourselves down.

We can feel quite burdened simply by the pace that we live our life. If we can learn to lower our RPM's, we can see life more clearly. The fingerprints of God become more visible. Make no mistake though; this is a discipline to cultivate and work at. It gets easier as we practice and soon becomes second nature because we awake to a new reality that sees the handiwork of God everywhere:
- in the frost of the morning;
- in the steam that rises from our favorite coffee;
- in the eyes of young children on the way to school;
- and in the story that we have lived for so many years called our life.

One friend of mine put it so aptly when he wrote to me that he was feeling like he was home because "he was coming home in his heart". Heed the words of Elihu to Job today,

Job 37:14
"Listen, Job; stop and consider the wonderful miracles of God!

Those miracles are your life.