amazed

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I Pondered Something I Had Never Given Much Thought To

The other day I pondered something that I have never thought much about before … and it amazed me.

I pondered something I had never given much thought

We all have amazing things happen to us or witness them with our eyes. But do we ponder those amazing things or do we just file them in our heads as a great event, encounter or sighting to tell someone later?

For instance, a friend of mine just came home from a trip to Europe and, on his way back, he had an experience that he couldn’t stop talking about. It was amazing, but it was amazingly bad. When it was all said and done it was a great story and something that he will never forget. 

I wonder, however, if he had pondered on that event, whether he would have come away with some deeper thoughts on life, health and God. 

I had an experience a few years ago in the emergency department at the hospital. I wasn’t there for myself but to visit a patient. While I was there visiting with this patient and his wife, a prison inmate somehow got the gun from one of his guards. In the wrestling match that ensued, both the inmate and guard had their hands on the gun. 

This all went down about twenty feet from where we were. We were watching it all. The gun was waving around; I felt so uneasy but had nowhere to go. There was nowhere to hide or go for cover. We were exposed and the struggle for the gun between the officer and the inmate was intense. 

Then a shot was fired. 

It was deafening; the smell of gun powder filled the emerge … but the wrestling match continued and I just knew the gun would go off again. 

And it did. 

One bullet stuck into the wall; the other bullet struck a person in the leg.

It was a scary moment and I will never forget it. 

I’ve told the story many times, but I’m not sure I’ve pondered the event. What could have happened? How has it affected me? I’ve never really asked all the “what if” questions. … Nor have I asked why I was spared and that other visitor wounded. 

Sometimes you are satisfied with the story the amazing event produces. Sometimes you should ponder it. 

I did that the other day sweeping up sand and gravel from our church parking lot. 

I forgot to bring gloves and very quickly developed several blisters on my hands. I made it through the morning with blisters that kept growing in size but didn’t break.

I pondered that later, looking at the blisters on my palm and a few on my fingers and thumb. As I pondered those blisters, it dawned on me how remarkable our skin is. Our skin doesn’t just tear and shred when stressed; our skin actually protects itself. And our skin heals itself. 

Those blisters never did break and one week later you can’t see any sign that I ever had them. My skin has gone back to what it was before the abuse.

Here’s the thing: Most of the time, we take that kind of amazing thing for granted. But if you pondered it for a few moments, you have to consider that there was thought and planning that went into a person’s make up. How could this small, insignificant thing about our skin be by accident? When you ponder it, it points to an intelligent, thinking Creator who designed us. That’s who God is.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to take time to ponder? Leave your comments and questions below.

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Awe And Frustration At the Same Time

From time to time I will post a article I’ve written in the past. This one today is a repost from August 2014. I hope you enjoy.

I believe it’s possible to be in awe and frustration at the exact same time.

awe and frustration at the same time

Can something be good and bad at the same time? Can you be completely frustrated and in awe in the same breath? Is it okay to clench your fists in rage while gazing at something beautiful?

Not only do I think the answer to these questions is “yes”, I know it’s “yes” because I just experienced it on the weekend. 

As crazy as it sounds, it’s true. 

It’s almost like that trick you do with a toddler or a baby: you distract them with something else and they stop crying. You know the child is crying because he scraped his knee, but you say “Oh look, a balloon!” The child’s attention is drawn to the balloon, he stops crying, and life is good again.  

It works like a charm every time.

It doesn’t work as well with adults. You can distract them with something else, but they are not going to forget the pain (whatever type) they are in.  

I played golf on a beautiful course this weekend. Six holes have been fashioned after famous golf holes from around the world. The fairways were like hitting off carpet; the greens were like bowling allies.  

They even had a set of bunkers called church pews – I was tempted to try them out but I stayed away.  

The day was beautiful, sunny, hot, with no wind. The course was lush, green, with dramatic undulating terrain. You wanted to take a picture at every hole. In fact, some guys in my group did take pictures as we went around. I was in awe.

But to contrast the startling grandeur of the course was the brutal ineptitude of my play. On the practice tees I was straight and long. On the course, I missed all but one of the fairways with carpet-like feel to them.  

I was looking at a picture of magnificence at every turn, but in what I was doing there was no beauty at all.  

So I would line up my putt on grass that seemed like it had been cut with my razor that very morning, but when I hit the ball I had no control of when it would stop rolling. And on every hole it kept rolling and rolling and rolling. 

I was amazed by the course but I wanted to hit it at the same time. In fact, there were two occasions when I swung my club really hard at the ground after another missed green, while staring at a scene that looked so inviting I could have lived there.

During my round, I couldn’t decide which emotion should win: awe at the stunning splendour of the course or my total frustration with my game. 

It seemed that for the longest time the two emotions were entwined together, stuck like a vine to a trellis. 

In the end, I would not have traded my experience. It was a great day, despite the play.

Here’s the thing: We can be utterly amazed at what God has done in someone’s life or ministry.  We can marvel at results that occur that clearly point to God’s hand of mercy or power. But at the same time, we can be completely frustrated by the lack of results or answers in our own life or ministry. We live here in this contrast, and to truly embrace Christ is to give glory to God while at the same time pleading out our burdens before Him. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What has amazed you while frustrated you at the same time? Leave your comment below.

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