Wake Up the Wonder
by Lynsey Dowds.
Just another morning in my kitchen and God dropped a phrase into my heart like a fragrance in the air… I inhaled it and followed it’s scent to find it’s meaning… And just like that my heart caught onto a little treasure hunt… a seek and go find what freeing truths I was to discover. I love following a lead, or a clue when I recognise God’s voice, and this was like one of those new (every morning) mercy moments….
The phrase was “Wake up the wonder”
So with anticipation of the find my heart started to fire up with memories relating to this phrase … I remembered I had heard an album with that title some time back and wondered would this lead me to discover the treasure God wanted me to find. Or, maybe was it in the lyrics of a song in the album?… With a cup of tea in hand I began searching online for those leads and all the while thinking …how often do I wake up in wonder?
I guess not being the prime example of a morning person, waking up in wonder was a rare occasion and reserved for all encompassing favourite days like snow days, special date days whether birth or Christmas days or spectacularly special days. Glancing at the dictionary definition of wonder it means:
a feeling of amazement and admiration, caused by something beautiful, remarkable, or unfamiliar.
So is it all too often I rise to miss wonder if reserved for such a minority of days … well my thoughts seemed to collide gently, I found from my online search a bible study that was inspired from the album Wake up the wonder (on Bible.com) and the bible verse that had led them to choosing it as their album title. It was Genesis 28 :16, NIV:
“When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it. ‘
I let that sweet truth settle into my heart some more… Jacob was unaware and began to wake up the wonder that God was there all along. Wow I began to think over this truth, God is with me and how often I am unaware of His presence. All those uncertain or spectacularly ordinary days that didn’t stun my attention in awe or capture my heart with His vivid designs. In my majority of moments those everyday, remarkably unremarkable moments, God is there… Those non spectacularly days have scope to become days to rise when we wake up to the awareness that God is with us….
I remembered again another bible verse that says
“Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you.” Eph 5:14
I started to wonder how often God wants us to see or come alive to His purpose in our days and anticipate His working through or advancing in, than just assuming it too familiar rather than being in faith for something remarkable to take hold.
So inspired by the treasure find I continued through my day with my thoughts thinking over it often. Allowing God to remind me He was with me in my lack and my unaware…
Then further on in the week, as if by some serendipitous moment I was searching out a backup worship set for Sunday morning with lyrics, when I came across a song I’d never heard before. Only God could work this one into my vision and ears… I had found a set that I recognised the name of the song thinking it was a Planetshakers one (that we use as a worship team) and in actual fact it was Jesus Culture’s song called Anthem… I guess the only reason I had listened to it was I thought it was the one by Planetshakers but then I heard the song …
I can hear the footsteps of my King
I can hear His heartbeat beckoning
In my darkness He has set me free
And now I can hear the Spirit calling me.
His calling
Wake up child
It’s your time to shine
You were born for such a time as this.
I was stunned by this beautiful moment God had directed me to hear, haha and unaware of a divine moment ensuing. Isn’t He so kind how he leads us and inspires us to journey deeper in faith and trust!
Just wanted to share this to remind you He is with you and don’t discount or disqualify your day from His beautiful life changing presence…. Wake up child … Your adventure begins when you open your eyes and see He is inviting you to take a second look through the lens of faith rather than familiar! It’s your time to shine, you were born for such a time as this.
Love Lynsey Dowds