Those Who "Get It"- Part 1

About a year ago I read the book Radical by David Platt.   In it, he tells a story about an underground Asian church that he visited where the members left their fields and put their lives at risk for the opportunity to sit on a hard floor and listen to him teach the Gospel.  After like 8 hours, he would finish and they would ask if he would come back the next day and do it all again.    It occurred to me that those people "get it".  They get the value of Christ.  They get the Call.  They get it.  Do I really get it?  I have no doubt that I am a follower of Christ saved by grace, but do I really get it?

This thought has literally been rolling around in my head for over a year now and is followed by my cry out, "Lord, open my eyes that I might get it."   We all have fears for our families and children.  Fears of what the future holds.  I fear things like cancer, war, and untimely death, but the thing I think I fear most in the last year is walking through this life and missing it.  I fear getting to the end of my days and figuring out that I have spent X number of years just going through the motions.

So as I have wrestled with this, I have tried to determine how people who "get it" look different from those who might not.  I am not an expert on the topic but I believe the Bible and life point to a few key things and I want to spend the next few days sharing them with you.

Character Traits of Those Who Get It (according to me):

1.  They See God in the Everyday.

Let me explain.  The other day I was visiting with a new friend and she was telling me about a book she is reading where the author challenges you to see God in the simple things like the colors of a soap bubble.  I thought this was incredibly insightful.  Okay now don't think I am going all Oprah on you and trying to convince you that God IS the soap bubble because I am not.  However, I believe that when we slow down enough from our frantic pace of chasing the next item on our calendar, we are able to see the beauty all around us and marvel at a God who would create such detail and beauty.

When I am over-scheduled, I don't see God.  I just see the next item on my to do list.  Then I see the stress I am enduring because of the deadlines or short comings.  That is usually followed by a pity party of some sort.  It is an incredibly self-centered downward spiral instead of a God-centered time of growth.

Those times I have seen God most in my surroundings are when I have been forced to slow down.

One of those times was a year ago when Trent I were on a Mediterranean cruise.  I was sitting out on my balcony thinking about how people who "get it" spend their money and then God silenced my thoughts and opened my eyes to the picture below.   I ran inside, got my camera and for the first time took a picture of just water.  No kids.  No boats.  Just creation.

Who is this wondrous God who makes the oceans such a beautiful shade of blue? What does that tell me about his character? His eye? And how much delight did He get out of me stopping to notice it and saying thank you?

I think people who "get it" ask questions like that every day.  I think as they look, God opens their eyes to see His creation in ways that most of us never see.  I want to be one of those people.

As a personal practice to help me open my eyes to the wondrous things of God, I am going to start Wondrous Wednesdays here where I will post a picture of something of God that caught my eye that week.  I would love for you to do the same and join me by posting a link to your picture in my comment section.  If you guys get excited about joining along, I will set up one of those linky tool things so we can all share God's wonders with each other each week.   For me it is a new discipline in my effort to become someone who "gets it".

Oh and I have like 5 or so more characteristics of those who "get it" that I will be sharing over the next weekish.

One more thing (sorry) if you have a picture of something that speaks to you about the wonders of God, please post a link in the comment section here.  I would love to see it!