Numbness vs Awe Inspired

An interesting reality has crept in to my being in the past few months; I have become numb. The realization of this began a couple of weeks ago when we visited an amusement park in San Jose. We were in line to ride a water ride and as we ascended to the top of the stairs to the final platform, I was prepared for what looked like a relaxing ride down the flume in an oversized blow-up tube that culminated with a refreshing ride through a lazy river; not! So there I was with Deb and four other people propelled down the slide with an innocent gentle push. To our surprise we spun, fast, all the way to the bottom for what seemed like an eternity. One of our friends in the raft recorded the event. in its entirety. What I realized about the video was that I laughed out loud all the way down. This was not a simple laugh, but one of surprise and excitement, due to the unknown events. Later that night on the way home, I thought to myself, I have not laughed like that in a long time. That was when I realized that I was becoming numb to life!

How slowly this had happened. Isn't life supposed to be filled with joy and contentment? Yet, here I was just taking it one day at a time and not being in awe of anything. I believe that this is how the enemy works. Little by little joy had been stolen from my life, but I am confident that we were created for more than the motions of existence. In the grand scope of this world it is evident that God has created a marvelous planet with an exponential amount of wonderment and awe. When Boyden was around six or seven years old we were walking up the hill to church. Deb and I had been throwing small marriage jabs at each other most of the morning and our hearts were not where they should be as we were preparing to enter into our place of corporate worship. I remember that it was a cold morning and there were large snow-flakes falling from the sky. I was having an important conversation in my head about the mornings sparing events, when from behind me, Boyden, with his head cocked back, mouth opened and tounge hanging out said, "Hey dad, have you tasted the snow?" That is awe inspired by what God has made.

What was a slow fade of joy being robbed, I have rediscovered with awe in a few days. It has only taken a few minor adjustments to go from being numb to awe inspired. First reality is: It's not about me. Second reality is: It's all about God. Joy is robbed when we quit being thankful for what we have. It only took a few days to look around and begin to truly thank God for His creation. Evangelist, David Ring put it this way, "Contentment is not getting what you want, but wanting what you've got." Each day I am waking up with a new zeal to look for awe moments of God. Interesting enough, I am finding them in the smallest things that I was taking for granted. When the focus started becoming about doing it all for Him, my problem of numbness was taken away. My challenge of awe discovering has been given to my wife and kids. We are now beginning to look for times every day to be inspired by God.