Signs and Wonders I

Watch for the coming of wonders.

Wonders abound as Charlotte’s plan unfolds. The minister can’t explain the wonders of the worded webs, but he exhorts people to watch for wonders  anyway. And, as the miracle of a spider’s web, there are signs of wonders and grace in all of creation. 

Our problem is that we faint from a want of wondering, not a want of wonders. When the Israelites lost their wonder of God, and the Northern Kingdom’s identity was mingling with Assyrian culture, God sent a promise to the Southern Kingdom of Judah about a wonder that would be their future: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14). And so, the prophecy was fulfilled, and the wonder came to be centuries later.

God performs wonders today. Missionaries, pastors, doctors, children, prisoners—people across all spectrums and in all cultures—can give accounts of His supernatural dealings in our time. But is it not also miraculous when He confirms His truth and presence, refreshes our sense of wonder, grants us faith and courage, and perhaps the greatest miracle of all, gives new hearts and new birth in Jesus Christ? God is even revealing Himself through dreams to peoples traditionally resistant to His grace. “I will show wonders in the heavens above” (Acts 2:19).

Prayer: Lord, help me recover a childlike sense of wonder and stand in awe of Your creation. Even more, may I be awed by Your work of salvation that makes someone like me a new creation. “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (Ps. 119:18).

Radiant Action: On dull days, I will watch. Miracles are blooming, but I might not see them unless I look in unlikely places. I will let spider webs cause me to pause and contemplate the wonder of their engineering. I will marvel at everyday things like windshield wipers, garbage disposals, Velcro, and cell phones. I even wonder at our ability to think, see, create, walk, relate, and breathe. I will look with a child’s eyes at the stars. 

Webs: Glory of the Ordinary (Oct.), Prophecy (Dec.), Coming Kingdom (Dec.)

Gleanings: “If we lose our sense of wonder, our capacity to worship will atrophy.”