I've been thinking a lot about the power of words lately. It helps that I have a very inquisitive 8-year old that loves to ask me questions like, "How far is 'as far as the eye can see'?" and "what does the word 'slender' mean?" as he stretches out the pronunciation: s-l-e-n-der.
I was pulled into a discussion with said 8-year old just the other day about how amazing it would be to speak a word and have that thing appear. Creation with nothing more than syllables, pitch, intonation and accent. Wow. What an amazing power would that be? I can't help but think that no matter how hard I might try though, that what I spoke into existence would be nothing more than fragile shadows of what it is that I set out to create. After all, how can the word "flower" sum up all that a flower is? How can this simple word sculpt the petals of a tulip as softly rounded as an infant's cheek? How can six letters, arranged in a certain manner, paint a rainbow of colors from the deepest hue of purple to the stunningly pure white? How can two brief syllables show the tiny tendrils of green shooting up from the ground before the last of the snow has left at the beginning of spring to the final drooping buds browning on the stem in late autumn?
This is often how I feel when I paint. Inadequate. Fumbling, tripping over missteps taken with my painting knife. Trying. Trying oh so HARD to create. And what do I have when I am finished? Fragile shadows of the pictures in my mind. Fragile shadows of the world around me. Fragile shadows of the wonder of God.
And I stand, speechless, in awe of my Creator.
When I look around everyday I am seeing God's handwriting. He authored the clouds. He penned the wind. He breathed life into man with nothing more than a word. He spun a tale of the furthest galaxy. He wrote the spirals onto the face of a sunflower. With. Just. A. Word. Psalm 29: 3-4, 7-9 tells us this:
The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majestic.
The voice of the Lord strikesAnd here am I. Stumbling forward toward my easel. Paint covered knife clutched in my shaking hand. Wild, powerful, majestic, striking, shaking, twisting, divinely uttered images racing through my head. I am humble. I am wonderstruck. Again.
with flashes of lightning.
The voice of the Lord shakes the desert;
the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord twists the oaks
and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, “Glory!” (NIV)
My favorite author, Margaret Feinberg, has a new book out. Wonderstruck: Awaken to the Nearness of God. Wonderstruck is a personal invitation for you to toss back the covers, climb out of bed, and drink in the fullness of life. You can follow Margaret on Twitter, Facebook, or her blog, and you can learn more about this great book by visiting www.margaretfeinberg.com/wonderstruck. The book can be ordered on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
I want to welcome my Creator with open arms everyday and see the wonder of God's wild, abounding creativity painted across the face of my child as he asks me about the world he sees around him. I want to step out into that world with reckless abandon as I overflow with divine awe at the words...at the imagination...at the might of the One who Loved first and best and continues to Love like no other.
Where have you seen the wonder of God in your life?
