“That’s awesome!”

It’s probably a phrase you’ve heard and maybe used to describe… the best pizza ever, the perfect cup of coffee, or some revolutionary piece of technology. I remember hurrying to the beach near Strahan, Tasmania (Australia) so we could catch an inspiring and memorable sunset before it disappeared. I have experienced the overwhelming peace  of hiking in a beautiful forest filled with the sounds of teams of wildlife. Moments of awe take our breath away and leave us without words to describe the exhilarating beauty of what God has created.

I like the way Jesse Singal puts it her blog “The Importance of Losing Yourself to Awe Once in a While.” (Thanks Elizabeth for sharing this.) Singal quotes Carlin Flora who wrote an article for Psychology Today:

“A sense of awe gives you a break from yourself. All your worries, all that internal chattering — it doesn’t necessarily go away when you’re feeling awe, but it certainly recedes into the background, becoming a distant whisper rather than the incessant hum it often feels like. This provides some … breathing room. When the constant buzzing of ‘me, me, me’ recedes, we might become sensitive to loftier principles.”

Experiencing a sense of awe reminds us that our lives are part of something much bigger than ourselves. I think it draws out our better characteristics like compassion, generosity, humility, gratitude, and love – to name just a few.

BUt how easy it is to miss the marvelous nature of our surrounding world. I remember seeing a photo of a guy on a boat, looking down at his cell phone, and completely missing the incredible view of a magnificent whale surfacing beside him. Sadly, I’ve been guilty of being so focused on a certain project or task that I lost sight of everything else. Probably we all have at one time or another been so wrapped up in our own world, be it filled with pain or joy, that we missed the astonishing blessings God has prepared for us. Focused on work at the expense of our family, on a clean house instead of a comfortable home, focused on me at the expense of us.

We might experience a sense of awe when we look up from our mobile devices and look into the eyes of a child or the intricate beauty of a flower or the astonishing magnitude of God’s glory displayed in a sunset. It might come in the realization that you are deeply loved.

Sometimes I stumble across it by accident. But I realize if I want to soak in the very best of life, I need to be intentional. I have to create margins in my life, spaces of time when I can cease from activity and simply be still. Do you suppose that we might see even the majesty of God and hear his voice calling us if we simply unplugged the ear buds and looked up to see others through his compassionate eyes?

I reserve the word awesome for my compassionate yet all powerful God who spoke and the universe was created. He made man – from dust! He patiently waited for me to turn to him as the greatest satisfaction of my life. He adopted me into his family when I was still sinful and rebellious. He lavishes such love and mercy on me in the middle of my deepest struggles. Rich Mullins got it write when he wrote,

“Our God is an awesome God!”

You can experience a sense of His awe in the most powerful of storms, filled with thunder and lightning, or it might be revealed in the quiet sound of bubbling brook. You might stand in awe of God’s majesty, or you might, in awe, find yourself prostrate before him.

Whatever the experience, it always unfolds before me when I get away from myself and turn my eyes to God.

Don’t you want more “awesome” in your life?!