Awe is a transcendent emotional experience.  It’s an intense jumble of emotions we normally don’t find all in one place – wonder, joy, fear, surprise, and sometimes horror.  At the core of it is a realization that something is far bigger and more powerful than we are.  I emphatically believe that it was designed by God to function as a core element of worship.  As such, our capacity for awe experiences can grow.  But how? 

I would like to begin by breaking the concept of awe into six building blocks.  I am not saying they are the only components, but I believe they are important ones.  By breaking it down, we can examine each area and see where we can grow. 

The first one is reverence.

I love this definition: “profound, adoring, awed respect”. 

Reverence is by far the most familiar of the six building blocks we will explore.  But we cannot underestimate its importance, nor can we ignore the relentless pursuit of the culture to destroy any and all forms of respect.  This is a concerted assault by the devil to destroy a pillar that supports our position before God and the grandeur of all He has made.  If the only thing we know how to do is belittle, tear down, and destroy, we have lost a fundamental part of our birthright as creatures made in the image of God.

It is not just in the culture that we must fight against the tide of irreverence.  In the church, we find the religious spirit.  It wages war against reverence by turning God into a formula to be followed for a predetermined result. There is not much about a formula that commands reverence.  A relationship with a living God who acts in ways that are beyond our understanding and control is the beautiful and truly awe-inspiring position we are meant to occupy. 

So, what can we do? 

The first is simply to raise our awareness.  We can ask God to shine His light and show us what we need to see in the culture, in our communities, in our churches, and our own lives.  Where have we been lulled into a cavalier attitude by the culture?  Where have we joined the “spitters” without realizing it?  What can we do in thought, prayer, and action to come in the opposite spirit? 

A second piece is to ask God what matters to Him.  Is there some area of our lives where He longs to see us express reverence and we aren’t?  What is on His heart? 

Another area to look at is design.  What facets of the nature of God stir you to reverence? 

An example for me is the very first phrase of the Bible – “In the beginning, God”.  There are so many emotions evoked with that one statement about God’s relationship to time and creation, and that He is the motive force behind it all.  Another example is from Psalm 139.  The God who knows me intimately.  Amazing, astounding, wonderful, beyond my understanding, and profoundly unsettling.  A source of reverential respect. 

Reverence can be expanded from things we have learned or developed, but it can also flow freely from the springs of our design. 

God made YOU to reverence Him in certain ways.  Do you know what those ways are?  That is a flow you can easily deepen and widen.

We can soak in the Scriptures that express reverence to God.  Perhaps you could begin with a playlist of those that really resonate with you.  Then build out to some that are not as sparkly, but could expand your capacity for reverence in a new area. 

And there may be symbols or acts of reverence that could become part of your lifestyle.  Sometimes it is something as simple as taking a few minutes to settle your mind or emotions and get oriented before your time with God.  Most of us live from one hectic transition to the next.  Just the discipline of moving into a mindset of reverence before engaging with God would be valuable.

Think about what might represent an act of reverence to you.  It could be a symbol of something – a special arrangement on a table, or a room that is set aside, something you wear that is meaningful, or a way that you prepare food.  The objective is not to get some particular result out of the process.  This is not a formula.  It is a way of outwardly expressing the reverence that you feel about who God is and how He has interacted with your life. 

I would encourage you to find ways to begin intentionally growing your base for reverence over the next couple of weeks, and in the next blog we will explore the second building block of wonderment. 

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