Wonder-Full Versus Wonder-Empty

By John Clardy – 9/17/08

Psalms 8:3-4

(3)  When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

(4)  What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

As a preacher and a writer, I am always listening and looking for things that will help me better communicate to my audience the message I am trying to convey. One of the things that has often inspired and interested me is how you can take commonly used words and make a play on them (like the title of this article) so that they portray a new view of the original meaning.  Sometimes it comes to me originally and at other times from others.

Somewhere in my collecting of ideas and illustrations, I jotted down this little observation: E-motions (emotions) = energy in motion. In other words, our emotions are what motivates and moves us.  Positive and productive e-motions can motivate us to be kind and creative and to achieve wonderful things in life. Negative and repressive e-motions can result in depression, dependency and a noticeable deterioration in our lives

Wonder is just such an e-motion. Consider how dull and dreary would life be without wonder in it! Wonder is the e-motion that puts sparkle into life and makes life wonder-full. When wonder is absent, our lives are wonder-empty. Instead of loving people and using things to better others lives, we end up using people to get more things. Being wonder-full expresses itself by a love for life, being wonder-empty expresses itself in a "lust" for materialistic things.

Consider the story of the Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19. To the careful observer of this narrative, it is obvious that this young  man was missing something that all of his possessions had failed to provide - the joy of being truly alive. In spite of all of his riches he was poor because he was wonder-empty. His question to Jesus was, “What can I do to gain eternal life?  I have done my duty to keep the commandments since I was a child. What am I still lacking? 

Matthew 19:21-22 MKJV

(21)  Jesus said to him, If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in Heaven. And come, follow Me.

(22)  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.

The answer was standing right before him.  He was offered the opportunity to embrace a life of following the One who is Wonder-full.  Instead he chose his possessions and went away sorrowful, wonder-empty.

The prophet Isaiah did not have the privilege of knowing the Name of Jesus, the revealed name of God.  In trying to put a name to God, the best he could do was list the attributes of God.  Do you know what the first attribute that he listed was? Wonderful!

Isaiah 9:6   For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called WONDERFUL, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Yes, He is the Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, and The Prince of Peace.  But before you can gain access to any of the other aspects of God, you must first experience Him as Wonderful.

The reason that prayer has become a duty instead of a desire to most is because instead of allowing prayer to be an opportunity to be caught up in the wonder and awe of God, we approach it as a time to present our shopping list of needs or to air our grievances.

Remember the instructions that Jesus gave the disciples when they requested Him to teach them to pray?

Luke 11:2  And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

The proper way to approach God is to firstly and lastly recognize how great and wonderful God is! When we do that, everything follows in proper order. 

Wonder – Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed, Wonderful is your name! 

Surrender - Your kingdom come and Your will be done in earth and in heaven.

Petition – Give us this day our daily bread.

Repentance – Forgive us of our debts.

Forgiveness – as we forgive our debtors.

Protection – Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

Wonder – For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory forever. AMEN!

When is the last time I went outside and looked up into the heavens on a clear night and let myself be overcome with awe and said, “When I consider the stars of the heavens, the works of your hands, who am I oh Lord that you would even consider me or take time to visit with me?” 

Maybe tonight would be a good night for that.  Maybe you should try it too.  Maybe, just maybe, if we allow ourselves to be e-motionally overwhelmed by our Wonder-full God, we too would be wonder-full instead of wonder-empty!