AWESOME
When I started teaching in the High School I really struggled with the overuse of the word "awesome" that had become so popular. It seemed like anything that was exciting had to have that word attached to it.I found myself wanting to shout, "ONLY GOD IS AWESOME!" , but I knew the kids would not understand....and I would probably lose my job!
You see, for years I had often used the word AWESOME when I talked to God and praised Him for His great attributes! When I told/tell God that He is AWESOME I think of that word saying He is awe-inspiring above ANYTHING else in the world. When I kept hearing that word used for other things it seemed to take away the importance to using it as an attribute to God.
As a young teen my parents took me to places that helped draw me into the awareness of how AWESOME God is. Those places were in the country of El Salvador, where we lived at the time. Some of those places were at the top of the volcano El Boqueron, or on top of Cerro Verde where we could look out over to the volcano Izalco, or Lake Coatepeque(the lake filled the crater of a volcano) Another place that seemed to draw me into His presence and make me aware of His AWESOMENESS is called La Puerta Del Diablo. What a beautiful, inspiring place with an oxy-moronic name meaning the devil's door!
Now, while traveling in the USA I have found other places that draw me into that awareness..places like the Grand Canyon or Garden of the Gods (or better yet Glen Eyrie right next door to the Garden of the Gods) or waterfalls way off the beaten path. A trip we once took from Kansas City, Missouri to Bend, Oregon had many places that seemed to draw me into an awareness of how AWESOME God is!
Those are places we don't get to spend a lot of time at. I have found that if I take the time to bask in God's presence in my own living room...take the time to acknowledge His presence.. I am able to becomes aware of how very AWESOME He is!
"Ours is the privilege to come into the presence - to invade the privacy - of an awesome God. Yet we moderns face a danger - the danger of familiarity. We need to recapture that sense of wonder and majesty about God that is so lost to our world. How do we do that? One way is to consider all that the powerful Creator of the world has brought into being for us." Cecil Murphey
I close with a challenge to anyone reading this to find what you can do in your life to bring your own awareness as to how AWESOME God is above anything else in your life!
Psalm 68:35O God, You are awesome from Your sanctuary The God of Israel Himself gives strength and power to the people Blessed be God!
