Tag Archives: purposed

day 1935: Shock And Awe

“For the Lord Most High is awesome. He is the great King of all the earth.”

We have heard the words shock and awe many times, but it wasn’t until our wars in the Middle East that “shock and awe” became two words that were linked together indelibly forever in the minds of those who were alive during this particular wartime.  We learned that not only can one experience show and awe, but one can also inflict shock and awe on others. Shock is one thing.  It stuns us. It moves us and motivates us to react but it can also paralyze us.  But, awe is something all together different.  Awe changes us.  As Paul Piff and Dachner Keltner, professors from the University of California found, awe gives us goosebumps and those goosebumps stir something inside of us that makes us want to be better, or do more and better than before.  They would say that it “moves us to do things for the greater good”.  I believe that.  I have sat in sporting events, arts events, churches, and in company meetings where it was impossible to not be in awe. And from that awe, comes an inspiration, a motivation to do more.  To do greater!  It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, we remember these moments for the rest of our lives.

Is there any greater awe than when we see God move in our own lives or in the lives of others?   When we feel that God has spoken to us or through us, we can be sincerely in awe as there is no greater that can stir or move us than the Holy Spirit when He moves within us.  We don’t have to look for the extraordinary to find God moving.  We can hear Him through the smallest and simplest of verses, in the prayer and reflection time, in the words that come from those who we count on for accountability and fellowship.  God can awe us at any moment, even when we least expect Him to do so.

Reference: Psalm 47:2 (New Living Translation)