Photo by U.S. Army
Albert Einstein once said, “He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.”
The thought of losing the wonder and the awe in my life is something that I think about quite often. I don’t know what it is, but for some reason as we get older it is easier to get jaded and more cynical about life. Maybe the idealism slowly starts to fade. Maybe the reality of who we are hits us harder. Maybe our weaknesses and shortcomings are more blaring.
Regardless of the reason, losing the sense of awe is something that we have to guard our heart against.
The more I think about it, I can’t help but to think that having a sense of awe is connected or at least correlated with our humility and gratitude levels. When we realize that we don’t deserve anything, then it is easier to be humble and grateful for things.
When we don’t take things for granted, then we are amazed at who God is and all His provisions in our lives.
People have said that “familiarity breeds contempt.” I am wonder if we are just “expecting” God to do things for us therefore when He does work, we are not in awe. When things become too familiar to us, then we don’t realize what it feels like when we don’t have that particular thing.
Steve Goodier shares a story about a man experiencing the sense of awe that we need in our lives. He writes,
May we never grow tired of all the things that God does in our lives – both great and small.