Amazed

          Are we ever truly amazed anymore?
          Sometimes we get surprised. Sometimes we feign shock. But in all honesty, how many of us have been amazed recently?
          "Amaze: to overwhelm with surprise and sudden wonder; astonish greatly" (Thank you dictionary.com)
          Do you remember when you were little, and everything was amazing? (Not in the sense we use it in now. We say "amazing" to mean great. I mean amazing as in it "overwhelmed you with sudden wonder".) No matter how cynical you are, or your circumstances growing up, at some point you were amazed at something. And maybe you can't even remember, but deep down inside of you, you know that feeling of complete and utter amazement. What have we done to ourselves, that as we grow older, we lose that special sense of amazement?
          Today I was reflecting on a few things that have happened recently, and I had the odd thought trickle across my mind: "It amazes me that God can use someone like me to do His work." The thought took me by surprise, not because it's not something that I would say, but because of the word "amaze". I tend to use the word "amazing" a lot, but I don't use it in the literal, dictionary definition sense of the word. But in this particular thought, consciously or subconsciously, I did. It had struck me that God can use someone as broken and messed up as I am to help someone else. The blind leading the blind, except for when You follow Him and He's leading you, the blind now have someone who can see to lead them. And that thought actually, literally amazed me. It surprised me and filled me with a sense of wonder. And a sense of gratitude, that someone like me could be useful. And have value. (But that's a different blog post.)
          And then I got to thinking how wrong it was that I am not constantly amazed by the works of God. I mean, think about that for a second. I know the almighty, holy, sovereign Lord of all who beyond all human sense and reason cares about me, and yet I am not continually awestruck, overwhelmed with surprise as each moment passes and I see His greatness. Have we as a society become so distracted, so disillusioned, so... cynical that we can't be amazed at the most amazing thing in our lives? Just because He's always present and always good doesn't mean that the amazement should wear off. Because we should be completely astonished that He is still good and still merciful to us as each minute ticks by and we continue to stumble and fall over and over again. Because we just can't imagine what it is like to unselfishly love somebody who sometimes doesn't even acknowledge your presence, who forgets about you and is constantly questioning you and getting angry with you. Who hurts you routinely. And because this is so far outside of what we can comprehend, it should amaze us. Always. 
          Amazement is that thing that takes your breath away. It shocks you, but not in a negative sense. It opens your eyes a little more.
          Since when did it become a bad thing to be completely filled with wonder anyway? That moment when you realize something that completely rocks your world. We seem to shun it, to shrug it off as childish or ignorant. If you didn't realize something before, then you certainly wouldn't admit to the world that you are just now realizing it. I want to challenge that. I submit that those who allow themselves to be amazed are not childish and ignorant, rather they are mature and wise. They understand that they aren't the most important, and that this world is a lot bigger than we like to pretend. It is a wonderful thing, to be amazed. Try to find a little amazement on a daily basis. It sets a particular focus and brightens up any day.