The "Wow" Factor

My pastor preached on Moses tonight. He focused on the story of Moses' life and how he became a leader. Basically, you had someone who lived for 40 years in the lap of luxury, but who ended up having to run in fear after killing the Egyptian. Then he got settled as a shepherd for his father-in-law Jethro, but God called him to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. Moses came up with just about every excuse he could think of, but God was ready for that and countered all of them. The application for us was that we need to step up as we're called. It was a good challenge to a church that has more than its fair share of "pew warmers".

That was good, but I felt like it was sort of old news. What was better was when he talked about the "wow" factor of ministry. He's been a senior pastor for over 20 years (maybe 25). He has seen God do some amazing things in people's lives. However, he said that after a while sometimes we tend not to marvel at what God is doing because we just get accustomed to seeing His grace in action.

I can very much relate to this. I spoke to him briefly after the end of the service and told him so. I've seen so many men's lives brought back from the pit of pornography that sometimes I lose wonder at seeing another marriage restored. I've read dozens and dozens of testimonies of people losing incredible amounts of weight. It's a shame when I take it for granted that a 350 pound women completely enslaved to food can lose 35 pounds in 8 weeks and keep moving forward. People who wouldn't miss a meal (or an in-between meal snack) start fasting and loving it. Only God transforms lives like that.

This is why I make a point of praying that I would marvel at God's Word and His work. I think we all could stand to sit in more awe of what He does.