Lions and Tigers and Bears, AMEN!

It is an act of courage to get up every morning and to face each day that we are given. We get up and we step out our door into our life which feel we control. We have a well ordered commute to work, we have regulated and mastered the environment of the car we drive, we know where all the usual traffic hang ups and pot holes are, we even can predict what music will play on our favorite radio station. It is only when something happens that is unpredictable that we get jarred out of our world of complacency, and into the world of grace. All of a sudden we go to step from one stone to the next while crossing the river of life, and our feet are taken out from under us. We do not like the bumps on the head and the gushing wounds that come from miss-stepping and falling.

We have a dislike and a distrust of anything that causes us to fear. Our monkey mind goes into full survival mode when we are in fear. This has served us well biologically speaking. We know when something causes our hearts to race and our mind to sharpen that it is for good reason, and we usually obey that biological cocktail that is telling us to get-the-hell out of here. This is all well and good, but it has done us no good spiritually. We were never meant to live in fear, but nor were we meant to live in dull and insipid complacency either.

Psalms 104 is quickly becoming one of my favorite passages of scripture. The verses are clear, the breadth of the pros is immense, and it all comes back to summation with "Praise the LORD, my soul. Praise the LORD." (NIV Psalm 104:35) The entire chapter is about wonder, and the immensity of what God has, and what God does. For me, the key to breaking the back of fear, as well as to beating back the complacency and spiritual torpor that so easily besets my soul, is to live in wonder. To live in soul enlivening, heart stopping wonder of all the things around me.

"The LORD wraps himself in light as with a garment. He stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on the water. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind." (NIV Psalm 104: 2-3) How awesome to contemplate, how Brobdingnagian is God because of what he can do. His cosmos, his creation, is where he resides. You are his creation, and he resides with you while in his creation. He provides "wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts" (NIV Psalm 104:15) God is not only your provider of daily bread, he provides in liberality.



"Wine that gladdens human hearts." He provides things that bring us joy. As we live in joy, God is enjoying our joy. God is lifted up when we experience joy.

"Oil to make their faces shine." He provides us with things that bring dignity to our day. Oil for the face means basically that he is providing make up for the day so that we may look clean, feel clean, and be clean.

"Bread that sustains their hearts." He feeds his people with liberality and abundance. He makes the earth bring forth all good things for his creation. We are the crown of his creation, we are given the means to meet our needs, and the needs of animals and so much more.

When I am staring down the metaphorical (I hope) lion of the day I can rest and remember the goodness and the sweetness of God. I can rest in his provision and his completeness. I can be still and know that this world is created, and managed, by He who knows me best. I can look in the eyes of the lion and say peace, be still.

I encourage you to spend a few minutes in quiet wonder. Sit and watch the stars, sit and stare at a rock, whatever it may take. Do not go with an agenda, just let your mind rest in silence and allow quiet to draw near. Allow your spirit to wander and wonder about the origin of what you are looking at. Allow your mind to ask questions. Put your phone away and do not let the internet give you the answer...I am serious. Sit with the questions that come, allow God to let awe and wonder have it's rightful place in your heart and mind. This takes practice, this takes patience. Allow God the time, and release your agenda. I once found Jesus while staring at a pine cone. It was a powerful experience for me. I could throw that pine cone at any lion raging in my heart and instantly it would be tamed. I dare you to find God in his creation. I dare you to give him the time.

~Selah