the wonder of looking

This is week three in our series on what Scripture teaches us about the value of wonder in our lives and ministries.
  
Today’s Scripture passage is Habakkuk 1:5 (NASB)

Look among the nations! Observe!
Be astonished! Wonder!
Because I am doing something in your days--
You would not believe if you were told.

​God is “doing something in your days” something we wouldn’t believe. Do you really believe that statement?

For those of us in ministry, isn’t that at least part of why we got into ministry in the first place? We wanted to be a part of what God was doing. And you definitely don’t have to be in full-time ministry to feel that way.

But as the home page of this website says, sometimes in the busyness of our lives and ministry we start to lose sight of the fact that God is doing things, astonishing, wonderful things all around us. And at times He is even doing those things in or through us.

So why is it so easy for us to lose sight of this? Why does it become so easy to read that verse and hear a small voice in our head saying: Really? Even now? Even in…whatever mess, craziness, challenge or trial we find ourselves in at the moment?

Is it possible that we’ve stopped looking and observing? Is it possible that we might be a little like Peter who stepped out of the boat with his eyes fully on Jesus only to find himself sinking like a rock when his focus shifted back to the storm? I don’t know about you, but all too often I find myself feeling this way. Those storms around us can be really distracting. We feel like they need our attention. We’re adults. We’re leaders. We have responsibilities. We can’t ignore the storms. Was Peter ignoring the storm while His eyes were on Jesus or was He trusting Jesus to  help him in the midst of the storm?

Why do we feel like keeping our eyes, attention, and focus on Jesus means we’ll end up missing something or neglecting what we’re supposed to do in the midst of the storm? As I ask myself that question, any answer that I come up with ultimately seems to come back to a lack of trust: being afraid I’ll miss something important, being afraid that something will catch me off guard, being afraid that people will think I’m shirking my responsibilities. All of those are ultimately a lack of trust that Jesus will walk me through the storm as I focus on Him.

So my challenge, and am I guessing yours, is to stop giving so much of our focus and attention to the tasks and trials around us and trust to Jesus to walk us through as we look at Him and observe what He is doing. In our astonishment and wonder at what He is doing in our day, we might just be reminded of the joy that comes from joining Him along the way.