As we explore the idea of Discerning Wonder, it would be a huge oversight not to talk about the wonder of children. In the very first article on this website we talked about the meaning of the word wonder.

WONDER - a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable.

No one express this true feeling of surprise and admiration better than a young child. Young children seem to naturally live in world filled with wonder. Everything is new and amazing and remarkable to them. They get excited about the little things we have learned to take for granted.

When we are talking about Wonder, we would definitely be better off if we recaptured some of that child-like amazement about the things around us. In the middle of frustrating traffic, if I would take a deep breath and wonder about the ability that we have to drive down the road, even if it’s at a crawl, I would be a little better. Wonder doesn’t change our situation, but reminds us of the beauty and blessings around us.

Just like we can so easily lose our wonder in day-to-day life as we get older, we can lose our wonder in our spiritual lives as well. We can begin to take for granted how amazing God is and how wonderful His works are. This is yet another area where we would be wise to recapture the wonder of children.

We are not alone in needing to learn this lesson. Matthew, Mark and Luke all tell about the disciples seeing Jesus shining like the sun and talking with Moses and Elijah and then hearing the voice of God. To say that the disciples encountered something “beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable” would be an understatement. Each of the three accounts says that they were “terrified”. You would think that with this amazing and powerful experience, the disciples would be reminded of the greatness of God and filled with wonder for days, but just like we often do, they quickly forgot and moved on to other things. Very quickly after each of these accounts, these three gospel writers tell us that the disciples had begun talking, or maybe even arguing, about which one of them was the greatest. Really? Didn’t they just see that God is the greatest? Oh how quickly we lose our wonder! Matthew 18:1-6 describes what happened next like this:

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, ‘Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”

So, just as they are arguing over which of them is the greatest, Jesus tells them that they need to become like children by humbling themselves. Child-like wonder begins with humility. Everything is new to young children. They are constantly learning and don’t think they’ve already got it all figured out. They are easily impressed and excited by the things they see and experience. We need more humility. We need to remember that we don’t have it all figured out. We’re not God and we don’t need to pretend like we are. We need to keep learning. We need to stop and actually take in what God is doing and has done all around us. When we do that, then we will be impressed and excited and filled with wonder like little children. Humility leads to wonder and wonder leads to gratitude and worship.

While these words are easy to say and grasp, they aren’t always easy to remember or put into practice. Once again we see that we are in good company because in Mark 10:13-16 just a short time after this conversation about having humility and being like and receiving children in Jesus’s name this happened:

“And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, ‘Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.’ And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.”

The words “He was indignant” always make me smile a little. He had just had this conversation with them and they clearly didn’t get it. Of course He was indignant. As amusing as I find those words, the ones that catch my attention even more are these: “for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these…whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” It makes me ask myself, “Am I humbling myself and coming to Him with child-like wonder to receive the Kingdom He is offering?”

1 John 3:1 reminds us not only of God’s great love for us, but that we are His children:

“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God, and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.”

Let’s live (and wonder) like His children today!

We talk a lot about wonder on this website. The name of the website is even Discerning Wonder. It’s hard to talk about wonder without thinking about children. Children, especially young children, seem to naturally live in world filled with wonder. Maybe that’s partially why Jesus said “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).

Children clearly have a special place in the kingdom, and in many ways we can learn a lot from them. Children’s ministry plays an important role in churches and ministry in general. I know that not everyone agrees with that, and there are a lot of different perspectives on how children and children’s ministry should be done in churches. This month’s book review comes from an older book, but one that I believe has valuable information for the church, ministry leaders, and parents still today.

The book, Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions, was originally written by George Barna in 2003. It was based on research from the Barna Group. Through various studies and research, Barna shares that generally by the age of 13 our spiritual identity is already in place. While children are growing and developing by leaps and bounds through about age 9. After 13, most of their foundations and worldview are in place, and it becomes very difficult to change it later in life. He states that “If you want to shape a person’s life—whether you are most concerned about his or her moral, spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional or economic development—it is during these crucial eight years that lifelong habits, values, beliefs and attitudes are formed.”

Barna doesn’t just rely on research, but also dives into Scripture to examine biblical examples of how much children matter to God. Reminding readers through Scripture that children are a gift from God, that they need to be taught how to think and act in God’s ways, that they are valuable to God and He desires a relationship with them, and more, he lays a foundation for the importance of teaching children. He sums up these reminders saying, “Jesus’ teaching in the opening verses of Matthew 18 suggests that if we, as parents and counselors to the young, lose our interest in and sensitivity to children, we have shirked one of the most important duties given by God to humankind.”

He laments the lack of priority that so many parents, church leaders, and church members place on training children. Barna says that, “I have been discouraged to discover that most American adults—including most parents—see spiritual development of children as a value-added proposition rather than the single most-important aspect of children’s development.” He does not leave things in this discouraging place though. He gives examples of ways to begin teaching children a biblical worldview and train them to be spiritual champions. He encourages readers reminding them that “If you want to have a lasting influence upon the world, you must invest in people’s lives; and if you want to maximize that investment, then you must invest in those people while they are young.”

Teaching children about Jesus, introducing them to Him and how He wants them to live is important not just for parents, not just for children’s ministry leaders, but for the church as a whole. God’s direction to teach his commands to the next generations in Deuteronomy weren’t given just to the parents, though they play a primary role in the task, but they were given to the whole community of Israel. Likewise, as believers we all bear responsibility for teaching the next generations. This can come in many forms, but we all need to appreciate and embrace the importance of training our children to be spiritual champions, and this book is a helpful tool to do just that.

We are currently in the middle of a series about the Wonder of Discernment. So far we’ve talked about the importance of taking time to slow down and spend time with God to seek discernment, putting it into practice, and training our discernment. Just looking at that can seem a little daunting, but there is good news. We don’t have to do it alone. In fact, we can’t do it in our own power. We need the Spirit to help us.


In 1 Corinthians 2:12-14, Paul was explaining to the church at Corinth:


“What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.”


True discernment comes from God and our understanding comes from Him as well. So to grow in our discernment means spending time with Him and listening to Him.


I love the words that Paul uses in verse twelve, “so that we may understand what God has freely given us.” He has given to us freely. He wants us to understand and then share what we have so freely been given. The Spirit is God’s gift to help us understand. If you want to learn more about this great gift from God, please check out the series of articles on the Holy Spirit on this website. There are so many great blessings that the Holy Spirit brings into our lives, but this aspect of His giving us understanding and discernment is definitely one of the more wonderful ones.


The Spirit illuminates the Word of God in our lives and helps us to understand God in new ways. As Paul described it He gives us not “words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.” Sometimes as we exercise discernment we find ourselves thinking or saying something and wondering “how do I know that?” or “where did that come from?”.  As a believer, our discernment comes through God. The Spirit helps us to understand and gives us words when we don’t have them.


If you find yourself struggling with discernment, go back to where we started in the first article in this series: slow down and spend time with God seeking discernment. He is the source. The Spirit will help us understand and discern. That can’t happen if we aren’t spending time with Him. The more we dwell with Him, the more we will Wonder in Him and He will equip us to Wonder in the Discernment given by Him.

As we’ve talked in the last few weeks about the importance of rest and identifying the things we need in our lives, it reminds me of the importance of taking time to reflect and evaluate in general. Reflecting on where we are and where we want to be going, maybe at times reflecting on the past, and especially reflecting on God’s Word are all helpful as we seek to be the healthiest people and leaders that we can be.


In Proverbs 27:19 is says:

“As in water face reflects face, So the heart of man reflects man.”


This is a great reminder for us that our what is in our heart truly reflects who we are. Sometimes we think what’s in our heart is our secret, but what’s in our heart has a way of coming out. In fact in Luke 6:45 Jesus explained it this way:

“The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.”

When we find ourselves doing or saying things we don’t like, or more importantly that don’t honor and glorify God, then it’s probably time for some reflection to figure out what sort of unhealthy things have made their way into our hearts.


This idea of reflection or examination can be found throughout Scripture. In Lamentations 3:40, it is stated very directly:
“Let us examine and probe our ways, And let us return to the Lord.”
So not only to we need to take time to take a close look at what we’re doing, but I find that word “probe” very interesting. “Probe” gives us this great image of pushing back at and digging into what we are seeing. To get to the real heart of issues that we are dealing with, reactions that we are having, or why we suddenly seem angry or bitter, we need to do some probing. We need to dig to get to the root of the issue.


I don’t enjoying dealing with weeds in my yard, but I also don’t enjoy a yard full of weeds. Sometimes when I notice weeds, I can go pull them and they pull out fairly easily, roots and all and that’s not too bad. It takes some effort, but it’s worth it and the task is accomplished fairly painlessly. Other times though, even when the weed isn’t that big and doesn’t seem like that big of deal, I begin tugging on it only to discover that the roots are far more entrenched than it appears on the surface. A couple things tend to happen when I come across these type of weeds. If I realize how strong these roots are, I start pulling on the weed a little more carefully so that it doesn’t just break off the part that is showing and leave the roots. Sometimes this careful pulling allows me to sense where the most resistance is and adjust my approach so that I can slowly pull the entire weed and roots up successfully. This takes patience, though, and more effort, but it gets the job done. Other times though, if I don’t realize how deep the roots go right away, sometimes I end up pulling the top part of the weed off, but the roots remain intact. At that point I have a choice. I can begin tediously digging into the soil to try to find and remove the roots that remain, or I can decide that it’s good enough and cover up what remains underground hoping that it will just die off. If I choose the second approach, it rarely works because the weed almost always regrows and when it does the roots are even stronger and harder to remove. It often seems easier to choose that second approach though because the first one takes so much effort and I don’t want to bother, but in the long-run I’m just creating more problems and work because I delayed what needed to be done.


Hopefully, you see the connection here. Just like weeds make our yards become a mess, weeds in our hearts do the same, and weeds in our hearts require much of the same attention, effort, thought, and patience that weeds in our yard do. Here is another connection though: I can help prevent or at least limit the growth of the weeds in my yard if I take the time and effort to carefully and faithfully use a pre-emergent to cover the ground and keep the weeds from growing in the first place. Psalm 1:1-2 gives us insight on a pre-emergent that God gives us for the weeds that might want to grow in our hearts:
“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.”
Meditating, or giving focused thought, on God’s Word and delighting in it helps to prevent the weeds of life from taking root in our hearts. The more faithful we are with this and the more we apply it to our life, then the more it guards our hearts against the seeds of doubt, insecurity, bitterness, envy, angry and more that the evil one tries to sow.


One of the things with pre-emergent though is that it states that for best results existing weeds need to be cleared away. Just like with our yards, just spending time in the Word alone is not enough. We need to put in the work of careful, intentional, patient reflection to remove the weeds that have already taken root in our hearts as soon as we notice them. This definitely isn’t easy, but it is necessary for us to live the lives of freedom, abundance, service, purpose and calling that God desires for us.


James reminds us of the importance of this along with image of reflection in James 1:22-25 where it says:


“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual does, this man will be blessed in what he does.”


So when we start seeing signs that we’ve heard the word but aren’t doing it, it’s definitely time to put the Wonder of Reflection to work in our lives so we can start seeing and pulling the weeds to reveal the beautiful, strong hearts God has placed in us and clear up the reflection we’re showing the world. I pray you will take sometime today to begin to reflect on the condition of your heart, and seek God’s guidance to get to the root of anything that shouldn’t be there.

God’s greatest gift to us was Jesus’s death on the cross to pay for our sins and restore our relationship with God. This one gift would have been enough, but He has given us so many other amazing and undeserved gifts each and every day. I might argue that one of the greatest gifts right after Jesus’s sacrifice is the Wonder of the Gift of Rest.

Scientific research has shown the incredible importance that sleep and rest have for our bodies, our minds, and our overall health. Which once again demonstrates that science confirms what our Creator has said all along. He designed rest for us. It is His gift to us and something He knows we need.

We see this gift of rest come up in the very beginning when Genesis 2:2-3 tells us that God rested on the seventh day after creating the world and everything in it, and blessed that day and made it holy, or set it apart. Then in Exodus 20 when God was giving the recently delivered Israelites some important commands on how to be a new nation of His holy people, he told them to “Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy.” He reinforced this in several other places in the Books of the Law and gave reminders of it’s importance through the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah as well.

Somehow though, over the next few centuries this had become a burden for the people. It had gone from a command from God to take a day to rest and be blessed by spending time with Him to a detailed regulation and restrictions that had to be carefully followed. This law of blessing had become a rule of burden. This is not what God intended and we see that in the words of Jesus in Mark 2:27-28:

We are continuing in our series on the Wonder of the Holy Spirit. Last week we talked about the importance of embracing the concept of the Trinity and how God clearly demonstrated throughout Scripture that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the One God we worship and serve. Before we dive into the arrival of the Holy Spirit, I want us to take a look at how Jesus prepared His disciples. He didn’t just tell them at the last minute to wait for the Holy Spirit, but He had been teaching about Him and preparing them all along.


On more than a half dozen occasions during His time with the disciples, Jesus spent time talking with them about the Holy Spirit.


He explained that the Father would be giving them a good gift in the Holy Spirit:

​

Last week, we finished a series on encounters with Jesus after the resurrection. In the last one, we saw the disciples encounter with Jesus as He ascended to heaven. Before His ascension, He said to them:

Last fall, I had the immense privilege of taking a four week Sabbatical. Before the Sabbatical I might not have used the words “immense privilege” to describe it, because the work that it took to prepare for it was beyond exhausting. By the time the Sabbatical started, I definitely felt like I had earned it and needed it. To say that I was exhausted would have been an understatement.

Besides the preparation of making sure that all of my job responsibilities would be covered for the the month that I was gone, I also was making preparations to make sure that the Sabbatical time itself was intentional and productive in helping me rest, renew and refocus. One of the things that I did in preparation for the Sabbatical time was read the book that I reviewed yesterday, Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity by Saundra Dalton-Smith, M.D. I was so glad that I had stumbled across her book in a podcast shortly before my Sabbatical. It really helped me understand the different aspects of rest and how those might be best incorporated.

I already knew that just sitting at home, watching tv or reading wouldn’t be the rest that I’d need during my Sabbatical time. Reading Dr. Dalton-Smith’s book helped me incorporate many different types of rest into that time. I discovered that many things including trying new things which for me included kayaking, taking a drive to view fall colors, enjoying quiet time and times with music, spending time with friends and time alone, and so many other things all helped contribute to my restfulness and feeling renewed.

All of these things helped me feel more rested, but I also took more time to just spend with God, to enjoy my relationship with Him just for the sake of our relationship not to study or prepare or anything else. The rest and peace that I felt from that truly enabled me to enjoy the other types of rest as well. During that time with God, I was really challenged by the idea of dwelling or abiding with Him. I know the verses well like: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5. Yet during this time, God really challenged me that I was putting other things like my to-do list and productivity ahead of actually dwelling with Him. As I explored this more, I realized just how much more restful dwelling with Him is.

If you’ve made it this far in this article, you might be thinking “That’s great and I’m glad you had this great Sabbatical, but I’ll never be able to do that.” And yes, I was fortunate enough to have that opportunity, but many of these things that I learned about rest can be implemented into life outside of Sabbaticals. I know this because more that six months after my Sabbatical, these lessons are still shaping and helping my daily life.

The reminder of the importance of dwelling with God and depending on Him instead of my obsessive to-do lists is still a valued part of my life. Am I doing it perfectly? No. Are there still days that I neglect my relationship with Him? Yes. Do I come back to dwell with Him much more quickly? Yes. Do I value that relationship and dependence on Him more? Absolutely.

The understanding of the variety of ways that I can and need to rest is also still very crucial in my day to day life. Again, I don’t do it perfectly and some days or weeks are better than others. There will always be more demanding seasons in our lives or times when it is more of a struggle to find the time for rest, but as we realize the importance of dwelling with God and resting it becomes more of a priority to seek to consistently make them part of our daily lives.
I think of the verse, Psalm 34:8, which says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” As we get a taste of the rest found in Him and that He desires for us, we will find ourselves craving it more and more. So even if you are busy, like we all are, and think you have no time to truly dwell with God or experience rest, I challenge you today to start where you are and carve out a few minutes or more to spend time with God, learn more about what rest you need, and start to experience His rest. If you think you have no time to carve out, then I challenge you to really take a close look at your time to see if that’s true. Can you give up some time on social media, or watching tv, or playing games? Do you have a few minutes in the carpool line, in a waiting room, or could you wake up just a few minutes earlier? I have to remind myself of this at times, but trust me, whatever the sacrifice it will be well worth it.

​I first heard of the book, Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity, in a podcast featuring the author Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith. I was intrigued by what I heard from her and about the book because like so many people I had been struggling with feeling tired all the time. When someone would casually ask how I was doing, so often the first thing that would come to mind was “tired.” I felt like I tried to rest, but never felt rested. For one of the first times as I listened to this author speak, I heard someone explaining why my “resting” didn’t always leave me feeling rested.

In her book, Dr. Dalton-Smith explains that: “Much of what we consider rest fails to work because it is not restful.” She also takes time to explain the difference between sleep and rest, saying that sleep itself is not rest, but rest makes our sleep better. The book explains that many things that we think are restful, like escapism, are actually not helping us rest in a way that helps us recover and renew our energy. She approaches this extensive look at rest from both her medical and faith backgrounds giving a well-rounded, well-researched point of view.

Thankfully, the author doesn’t just explain what we are doing wrong when it comes to rest, but the majority of the book explains what is needed for true rest. She says that “The most effective rest occurs when we are purposefully reviving the parts of our life we regularly deplete.” Dr. Dalton-Smith goes on to explain that there are seven different areas where we need rest: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social, sensory, and creative. As we deplete ourselves in each of these areas, we need to rest in ways that help us recover and replete those specific areas. If our senses are exhausted from the noise and other inputs of life, then sitting down to watch tv or a movie for a few hours isn’t going to help us rest and feel renewed. The same idea is true for each of the seven areas. Different types of exhaustion, need different types of rest.

Dr. Dalton-Smith not only shares about these seven areas of needed rest, but she gives very practical ideas on how to rest in ways that can renew us in each of those areas. In case we weren’t already convinced, she goes on to share a dozen different gifts that rest gives us: from freedom and acceptance to permission, productivity, and choice.

All of these ideas were like a breath of fresh air to me, and might be to you as well. Dr. Dalton-Smith asks a question with a powerful suggestion , “What steals your rest? Answering this question helps reveal the benefits of having boundaries and the gift we have in setting boundaries within our lives.” Recognizing the specific things that steal our rest and even more importantly the areas where our rest has been depleted, helps us determine the kind of rest we really need.

This book includes a Personal Rest Deficit Assessment and also a link to her free 7 Types of Rest Quiz. In this online quiz, you can determine the areas where you are most in need of rest. When I took this quiz it was simultaneously eye-opening and also very affirming of what I was feeling. After taking the quiz I spent about a month trying to implement some the types of rest that were suggested in the book. After that month, I retook the quiz and saw improvement in most of the areas.

If you are struggling with constantly feeling tired and exhausted, and feeling like nothing you do makes it better, then I’d highly encourage you to take some time to check out this book. For me, it is definitely going to be a periodic re-read to remind myself of areas where I need to proactively rest and replenish. I hope it might be as helpful to you as it was to me.

​Today is Memorial Day in the U.S. It began as a national observance after the Civil War as a time to remember and honor those who had paid the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, dying in battle.

While we still know that is the reason for this holiday, for many of us it’s become more about a long weekend to kick off summer. It’s not a bad a thing to enjoy barbecues, camping, time with family and friends, and other activities during this holiday weekend, but I do think it is still appropriate for us to take some time to remember as we enjoy our early summer activities. After all, it is because of their sacrifices, that we have the freedom to enjoy the activities of our choosing this weekend.

According to the website military.com, over 1.3 million military members have died while fighting for our country. That doesn’t even include those who have lost their lives in training accidents or other duties. What a staggering number! Not only did those 1.3 million plus military members give the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of our nation and our freedoms, but most if not all of them left behind loved ones, friends, and family who paid the sacrifice of grief and loss. What we can so easily take for granted, has come a such a great cost.

If we stop and think about, many of us have people somewhere in our family trees that have paid this ultimate sacrifice. For some of us it may have been someone close to us who we still love and miss. For others of us it may be a more distant relative who we never really knew, but if we take time to consider it some of the realities of these sacrifices become clear.

I grew up knowing that one of my Grandpa’s brother’s had died in World War II. As a kid growing up and honestly as a young adult, I never really thought about what that meant. As I’ve gotten older and learned a few more things about him, I’ve finally realized how tough that must have been for my Grandpa and his family. Jimmy was the youngest of four brothers and was killed in action in Japan less than five months before the war was over. From the stories I heard he was a vibrant young man who enjoyed life, riding on roller coasters with my Grandma when my Grandpa refused to join her. The grief must have been so difficult for all of them, but especially my great-grandparents. To add to the grief experienced by them all, it took months before his body could be returned for burial, and they were the lucky ones because some families of service members didn’t ever get that opportunity.

This is a story that in one way, shape or form can be repeated over 1.3 million times by families in our country during the last 250 years. It is devastating and yet encouraging. It is dreadful and yet deserving of honor.

In the Bible, Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

While not all of those who have given up their lives for this country were followers of Christ, many were and they followed the example of His sacrifice for us. All of these military members exemplify what Jesus said. They each sacrificed their lives for their friends and countrymen, to protect us, to protect our nation, and to protect our freedoms.

The least we can do is sacrifice a few moments today remembering and honoring them and wondering about the magnitude of their sacrifice.