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W is for Wonder!

W is for Wonder
1.   
To
think or speculate curiously.
2.   
To be
filled with admiration, amazement or awe.
3.   
Something
strange and surprising.
Synonyms  conjecture,
meditate, question, marvel, ponder
“I wonder…  I wondered how it would all work out!”  It was a beautiful summer day in
Oklahoma.  Mom and I visited my Aunt
Marie as she ruminated about different decisions and happenings in her life.  Now I am Aunt Marie’s age; she was then, and
I wonder.
I often
wonder.  Sometimes I wonder why God chose
the color green for the grass and the color blue for the sky?  I try to imagine the sky green.  It just doesn’t seem right, and I am glad God
created the sky’s color as blue.  I
wonder what tomorrow, next week or next year will bring.  I wonder how many days God has ordained for
me to live on His Earth.  I wonder what
we will eat for our next meal.  Making
choices is easier with fewer choices from which to choose. I wonder if it will
rain or snow tomorrow.  I wonder what I
will wear today.  I wonder, what is my
favorite book, color or hobby.  I wonder
why blood is blue under the skin, but when released, it is red.  I wonder what my friend meant to say.  I wonder what Jesus has for me to learn today
and how I can serve Him.
The Wonders of the
World around us are filled with mysteries…How can a seed bring forth fruit and
grain and vegetables that feed us?  I
wonder at the life of a farmer who depends God’s gift of rain and sun to bring
in the harvest. I wonder at the flight of the butterflies and the birds in the
sky. I wonder at the miracle of birth…and how love for the tiny life comes from
God himself as He carefully knit the baby in the womb.  I wonder at the path of the wind as it blows
the clouds until they fill with rain and release showers of blessings.  I wonder at the sun’s rays of vibrant color
as they dip down below the horizon.  I
wonder at friendships with those who give unrelenting love and understanding
because of their love for Jesus. I wonder at the drop of rain in a lake that
draws ever-widening circles.
Wonder is the
cousin of Mystery.  Without Wonder there
would be no Questions. Without Wonder, how can we know God?  Have you ever looked in the Heavens at all
the stars and wondered if you could reach them? 
When I was in high school, I went to the small town park at night and
tried to touch a star with my toe while swinging.  “I wonder” is searching for God in our lives.  The Wonder of God’s Love never becomes old.
A new ‘I wonder’
came from our seven-year-old great-grandson. He talks to Jesus to ask questions
no adults can answer. 
“What
color is Satan? How many sins are there?  How did Jesus protect Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego in the fiery furnace? How did Goliath die when only one stone hit him
in the head?”
The ‘I Wonders’
increased when it was time to make life decisions of who I am, what will I do,
what has meaning in my life.  I wondered
what is the right choice in a husband, how do I raise my children, how do I
grandparent from a distance, how can I serve others, I wonder if I serve Jesus
for self-adulation or Christ.  I wonder. I
wonder how we recognize a brother or sister in Jesus Christ when we meet a
stranger.  
I remember when,
at eight years old, I was baptized into Jesus. The freedom and cleanness I felt
as I rose from the baptismal waters is like no other.  Since then, the mystery of belief coupled
with the act of obedience – baptism, has created a hungry-wonder in me.  I wonder at the spiritual world that I had
entered through the forgiveness of Jesus who died on the cross for me.  How can this be?  There is no other way except to accept it and
follow Jesus, the One who Loves me.  Why
does He love me so? 
That brings me to
my greatest Wonder of all.  As two sons,
one brother, parents and grandparents all died, I wonder most of all about
Heaven.  I wonder about Crystal Sea (
In front
of the throne was a shiny sea of
glass, sparkling like crysta
l. Revelation 4:6)  the
Golden Roads and the Pearl Gates. (
The twelve gates were twelve pearls,
each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold,
as pure as transparent glass
.  Revelation
21:21) 
And my favorite….a place just
for me –
(“Do not let your hearts
be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.  My
Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that
I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also
may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going
.” John 14:1-4)
Will Heaven’s flowers
sing praises?  Will birds sing praises
with words?  Will God’s glory and light
be eternal?  Will there be animals in Heaven?  Will we need to eat?  Who does the dishes, if we do?  Will there be a library there? 
Wouldn’t you have loved to be with Mary as she
pondered (wondered) at all that happened as Jesus was born in the stable?  Wouldn’t you have loved to be with the
shepherds in the field as they heard the Angels who appeared in the sky?  Would we have believed when Jesus changed the
water into wine, or raised Lazarus from the dead, or healed the lame, the
blind, the deaf and raised the dead?  I
wonder. 
I wonder how long God will allow the world to spin its
tales of hurt, deceit and greed before He sends Jesus back to earth to gather
His Children.  Each time I see storm
clouds, I remember how God hides in the clouds as He strides across the sky and
I wonder.  Is He there now? Does He see
me smiling with wonder? I wonder, is Jesus coming as a thief in the night
momentarily?  When the sun shines so
brightly that my eyes hurt, I wonder what it will be like to see The Father and
The Son face-to-face. 
I wonder as I wander out under the sky…How Jesus the Savior did come for
to die.  For poor on’ry people like you
and like I; I wonder as I wander out under the sky.

(John Jacob Niles – a Chrismas Carol that catches the
Wonder of the Birth of Jesus – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywQaYDwk0Gw)

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