Awe

A lesson that I have been learning the past several months that I believe has come together in the last week is that of awe. The form of the word “awe” that is most commonly used in my world, and probably yours, is “awesome.” In my own life I haphazardly throw the word around, attaching it to movies, songs, material possessions, and even worse, other people. So commonly I find myself saying that so and so is awesome or still worse, I found I absolutely love it when someone tells me I am awesome. I’ve read in several books the past months about how only God is awesome. His love and the beauty of His creation should strike awe in us and are a mere reflection of how awesome only He is.

On Friday I was in a car on my way to a beautiful area of England called the Lake District, reading a new book called “The Irresistible Revolution” by Shane Claiborne. I came across this statement that really brought this whole lesson together that God has slowly been using to refine me:

If I am awesome, we have a problem. Either folks are being set up for disappointment, or they have not yet caught a glimpse of God. Only God is awesome. Shane Claiborne “The Irresistible Revolution” p 27

Did you catch that? Only God is awesome. Awe is an attribute that should only be given to God; yet, we mindlessly give this attribute to anything and everything. Even worse, we attach awe in reference to ourselves when awe belongs solely to God. Over the past several weeks I have caught glimpses of God through His creation and there has been no other response than silence and wonder.

On Friday, after a several hour hike, I found myself overlooking a beautiful lake in the midst of several mountains (yes, there are mountains in England!) We continued up the mountain and at the top, there were simply no words. All around were the tops of mountains lightly covered in snow. To the West I could see the Irish Sea and far off in the distance Ireland. I was with great friends, in God’s wonderful creation, with only a thin layer of clouds standing between me and my Creator and Saviour. It was a moment I will forever treasure.

So in my own life, I am going to try to re-work my vocabulary ever so slightly and reserve the word awesome solely for the Godhead. Only God is awesome. It is your task and mine to help reveal a glimpse of God to others so they too can truly experience awe.

I hope you enjoy the pictures of my trip to the Lake District in the northwest of England. Copy and paste this link into your web browser to view them:

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/fugazzi02/album/576460762394841100

We had a very busy but very fruitful week of ministry. We continue to have more and more young people show interest in why our team is England and the hope that Christ has to offer them. As our time is beginning to come to a close, there is a bit of a sense of urgency with the young people. Please pray that we will have patience and would follow the Spirits leading in our interaction and conversations with them.

Please pray this week specifically for a young person called Dean. Dean is a bright young lad and a talented musician. He is my top guitar student and has some wonderful abilities on piano, guitar, and singing. His family is really going through a tough time and it is affecting him socially, educationally, and musically. I am meeting with him tomorrow after school just to talk about life and to be of help in any way that I can. He really had a tough guitar lesson yesterday and we spent most of the time talking about how difficult and complicated his life is at the moment. This morning he apologized for his words and actions and it nearly moved me to tears. It is God working in the life of young people like Dean that are the hope and the future of the church body and spirituality in England.

I had my formal interview this week with AIM to join as staff and it went very well. My hiring is being voted on this week and everything should hopefully be finalized in the next two weeks. Please be in prayer that everything will go through smoothly and that there won’t be in roadblocks in this process. I am so looking forwarding to coming back to England for at least another year.

Thank you to so many of you who continue to express interest in joining with me and financially supporting God’s work in England. In the next two weeks I should have the information you will need to continue giving to God’s kingdom work here.

As always, I love hearing from you so please drop me a comment or send me an email.

I’m not famous!!

Chad Mustain