The Wonder of Looking at Him

There are certain things in life that catch us by surprise. Things we see that are so captivating they possess the power to instantly stop us from giving our attention to whatever had preoccupied us so thoroughly just a moment before. Wonders. When we see such wonders, we can’t help but stare. Seeing them is enough, it becomes a thing to do all by itself.

An amazing sunrise, a breathtaking sunset. A ferocious thunderstorm. Roaring waterfalls. A full moon. You turn a corner traveling through some treacherous mountain pass and it opens to a majestic mountain scene, a panoramic vista that not only takes your fears away, but your breath as well. We must pull over and take it in.

I remember my wife and I once drove through Sedona, Arizona at sunset. For us, it was just a place on a map, a route to get us from Flagstaff to Phoenix. We had no idea we would be traveling through one of the most beautiful places on earth. There are no words to describe the scenes we saw that day, no pictures could ever do justice to the pictures in our minds, created by our own eyes that day.

Wonders.

I’ve been having moments like these over the past several days holding my first grandchild. I can’t stop staring at him. I held him and rocked him for almost two hours the other day. Went by like five minutes. Staring at wonders will do that, alter the space/time continuum. He makes me smile. He doesn’t have to do a thing to earn it. It just happens. He produces joy in me simply by being there. That’s the affect wonders have on us.

They transcend the fixed boundaries of our lives, interrupt the schedule, compel us to take notice. They are, as someone eloquently said, the “fingerprints of God.” He is the author of these moments, delighting to give us brief foretastes of glory divine. The Creator, revealing aspects of His nature and personality through wonders, big and small. These aren’t times for analysis or debate. Words are poor judges in moments like these. The thing is…to just sit or stand there and take it in.

Thank you God, for allowing me to gaze at Your wonders. For allowing them to exist in this dark and difficult age, reminding me of a time yet to come, when I will need a brand new body to behold even more amazing things than these.