WONDER
Filled with Wonder
What would happen if our children grew up AMAZED with Jesus and filled with WONDER as they realize just how much their Heavenly Father loves them?
I am not a magician by any stretch of the imagination but I do love magic and watching magicians do their thing! The reason I love watching magicians is that I’m always amazed! I’m always filled with awe, wonder, and curiosity… How did they do that?!
Even though I am NOT a magician, the good news is that it doesn’t take much to amaze a child or fill a child with WONDER.
For example, when I’m with little kids I love to show off this magic trick I learned from my dad where I pull off the end of my removable thumb.
Now, a lot of you may know how I pull off this elaborate illusion… But for a child, this is amazing! Every time I’ve used this trick it always works and I love it when they look and me and ask, “How did you do that?! Do it again!”
All of you have probably used the old quarter behind the ear trick. The only problem with this trick is inflation. Kids aren’t amazed with a quarter anymore, now they want you to do it with a $20 and then give it to them!
One of my favorites is the cut rope trick. I learned this one for a mission trip I went on to Mexico years ago. I was speaking at a children’s home and I wanted to amaze them with some magic. A real magician could do it better, but it’s fun to “cut the rope” in half and then restore it before their very eyes!
Losing Our Wonder
What happens for so many of us is that as we get older we begin to lose our sense of WONDER.
We looked up the magic trick on YouTube. We know how it works. We can explain it. There’s no mystery. So there is no wonder. And when we lose our sense of wonder we lose something significant, something important, something our Creator put within us to draw us to Himself.
What happens when we lose our wonder? We become skeptical, critical, and even judgmental.
Scooby Doo
I remember growing up watching Scooby Doo cartoons… which were great by the way. Every episode followed the same basic plot line. There’s a problem in town. Something’s happening that can’t be explained. There’s a mystery. But have no fear, Scooby Doo and friends are here.
They roll up in their van called, “The Mystery Machine,” and by the end of the episode they’ve figured out trick, how the greedy banker in town had convinced everyone that the old house was haunted but, it was really just him in a mask with ropes and pulleys to create the illusion that something mysterious was going on. But it wasn’t anything mysterious. It was just the greedy old banker down the street.
And without even realizing it, we now have an entire generation of adults who grew up watching Scooby Doo or something like it who have given up on the idea of mystery and wonder because we assume it’s just a trick.
So when we see something unusual, instead of being filled with wonder, we become skeptical. Critical.
Created to be Amazed with Wonder
But God created us to be filled with awe and wonder. To be curious about questions that don’t really have answers. And for that sense of amazement to turn our hearts toward Him!
And you see this when Jesus walked the planet. When he began his ministry, people were amazed! They were amazed at the things he said and at the things he did.
It’s one of the reasons I love this story about Jesus found in Mark 2.1-12.
When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door.
A couple of quick notes as this story begins. First, I just want you to notice that Mark says when Jesus returns to Capernaum, he was back “HOME.”
HOME
Most people agree that Jesus considered Capernaum his home during his ministry years. A few years ago when Alisha and I were in Israel, we went to Capernaum. And when you get there, you’ll see this sign!
And I want you to see that because for Jesus, this idea of home is important. Having a place to call home, a community where you belong, a neighborhood where people know you, and a family that knows you by name… this is important for Jesus.
And scripture reinforces this idea throughout the life of Jesus. Why else would we know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem? Raised in Nazareth? Ministered out of Capernaum? Why else would we know that he frequently stayed in Bethany, his home away from home, with his friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus whenever he was working in Jerusalem?
HOME was important to Jesus.
A Hole in the Roof
So Mark says Jesus was home, and apparently small group was at his house that day and the place was packed!
People were standing outside trying to get in to hear Jesus. They were peering in every door and window. It was standing room only!
While he was preaching God’s word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat.
You may have heard this story before, but just imagine this moment. These guys showed up late to small group! They didn’t know the house was going to be packed. But they were on a mission. They didn’t just want to hear Jesus teach, they wanted him to do something for their friend who was paralyzed. They’ve heard that he’s a healer. That he can do miracles. Maybe he can do something that only God could do for their friend who is paralyzed.
Mark says…
They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head.
Now I don’t know about you but if I’m Jesus and I just got home and my house is full of people and I’m trying to lead small group and then 4 guys start digging a hole in my roof, I might be annoyed. I mean, who’s going to pay to fix that?
The good news is that Jesus doesn’t think that way. He sees these friends, and this paralyzed man, and he loves them.
And these friends loved this man SO MUCH that nothing was going to keep them from getting their friend in front of Jesus. And I don’t want you to miss that.
I mean, what wouldn’t you do to help your friends have an encounter with Jesus?
What wouldn’t you do to help your kids, your grandkids, our kids here at church have an encounter with Jesus?
Forgiven?
Mark says this is what happened next…
Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”
I know what you’re thinking… Jesus, the man is paralyzed. They want you to heal him, not forgive him. But Jesus knows that more important than healing his legs is healing his soul.
So often we want God to change our situation but God wants to change our hearts.
Interestingly, it would have been easier for Jesus if he had just healed the man’s legs. When he said, “Your sins are forgiven,” the religious leaders were furious!
Forgiven, Furious, then Amazed
But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”
Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’? So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”
And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the STUNNED onlookers.
Then… listen to what Mark says happened…
They were all AMAZED and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!”
What about you?
When was the last time you were filled WONDER, AMAZED by Jesus?
Last year we decided to go Colorado for our summer vacation as a family. What you may not know is that we’re beach people. If Alisha and I get a chance to go on vacation… we almost always choose the beach. But we have some friends in Colorado Springs and we wanted to visit them so we made our plans and for the first time ever, our family saw the Rocky Mountains.
And it seemed like in every direction, there was something else to see that filled all of us with a sense of awe and wonder.
Everything around us revealed a Creator we cannot see but the evidence of his existence was undeniable.
We were able to share with our kids that the same God who created these mountains and rivers and valleys created them and loves them more than they could ever know. And what’s even more amazing, He longs to know them and have a relationship with them.
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We could have tried to explain it all and the science behind it all, how tectonic plates have shifted over time and how rivers create erosion that turns into canyons and valleys and on and on… but we chose instead to just be filled with WONDER. Mystified by the beauty of it all and the One who Created the heavens and the earth.
And it was awesome.
Click here for more to learn about Wonder in: Parenting Beyond Your Capacity
Wonder + Faith
You see, faith is mysterious. There’s something about it that is unexplainable. The Hebrew writer said it this way,
Hebrews 11.1, 3
“Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.”
Faith REQUIRES WONDER and believing in what we cannot see.
And it’s so important that we recover the ability to embrace the WONDER. They MYSTERY. The FAITH! And it’s so important that we…
Incite WONDER in the next generation so they will grow up knowing just how much their Heavenly Father loves them.
How do you Incite Wonder?
How do you help your kids be filled with WONDER by Jesus?
Here are 3 ideas:
1 // Look at creation.
Look at the clouds. Look at the stars! Go find some mountains. Take them to the ocean. And embrace the majesty, the mystery, and tell them God did it! God made it!
2 // Tell them the stories.
The stories of what God did, what Jesus did, what the Holy Spirit did in the Bible. Remind them, these aren’t just Bible stories… these are eye witness accounts of the things Jesus said and did!
3 // Tell them YOUR stories.
Tell them YOUR stories of what Jesus has done in, for, through, and around YOU! Tell them the stories of your struggles, difficult times, and how God came through at just the right time. Help them be amazed at Jesus.
Fill Your Heart with Wonder
I’ve got one more question for you before we end.
What do you think Heaven is going to be like?
Do you think you will be filled with wonder? Do you think you’ll be amazed when you see Jesus? His hands? His feet? When you see the throne room of heaven with your own eyes?
What will it be like to walk the streets of gold? To put your feet in the river of life that flows in front of the throne of God? What will it be like to hear the angels sing, “Holy, holy, holy…” Or to hear Jesus say, “His sins, her sins, are forgiven?” To hear your Father in Heaven say, “Well Done!?”
Are you beginning to feel a sense of wonder?
A sense of amazement?
What will it be like to see the lame walk in heaven? What will it be like when the blind see Jesus and when you see Jesus for the first time? For the one who has been sick with cancer all their life finally and fully and completely healed?
Are you beginning to feel a sense of wonder? A sense of amazement?
Here’s the thing… If we aren’t filled with wonder, if we aren’t amazed with Jesus, how will our kids ever be?
How do you become amazed? Filled with wonder?
It can only happen when you spend time in his presence. When you thank him for all he has done!
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