Awe for Who?

There is a point in my morning commute that I come across the crest of an overpass to see the city skyline off in the distance with a rising sun as its back drop.  Even though I’ve seen this postcard shot many times in the past, it wasn’t until recently that I was struck with the irony of the monuments to man’s ingenuity of skyscraper construction appearing to compete with the daily creation of God’s morning light show.  I’ve wondered on the days since that first realization, if God has subtly placed His creation against the back drop of man’s attempt to “create” something that is awe inspiring.  This “pride of workmanship” has grown beyond the boundaries of excellent work to a belief that man is the creative genius without need of God.

We forget that we don’t really create anything. We start with elements and substances first created by God. Yet we lose sight of God’s fingerprint on our rearrangement of His elements into a creation we call our own. The more proficient we become in our ability to act creative, the more distant we wander from a dependence on God.  Awe is no longer reverently saved for a holy God, but is rather a diminished appreciative pride for our own accomplishments.  Misplaced awe is the beginning of a misplaced life.

In the beginning words of wisdom from Proverbs we are told that the “fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”  This “fear” is a reverent awe that holds God in holy regard in contrast to our unholy state.  If we don’t have a reverent awe for God, then we are unable to begin the understanding of Proverbs that follows.  Our beliefs become a collection of uninformed ideas that lead us further from God’s intent for our life.  A cycle begins: No awe for God, more misplaced awe for what I accomplish further distancing me from an awe for God.  In the end , we grow blind to God’s provision and creation.

It is difficult to be awed by God.  Not because He does not exist in ways that are awe inspiring, but because we have entrenched our physical, mental and spiritual life so deeply in ourselves that we have lost a sense of expecting God.  We are so enamored by what we have accomplished or what we want, that we have no dependence on God.  We cannot not see God if we are intentionally looking away.  God promises He will provide us wisdom, protection, provision and knowledge, but it first starts with a reverential awe on our part that holds him in holy regard.  Who do you hold in awe?