100 Weeks of Wonder!

Posted On March 6, 2022

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 1:8 NIV

Hello, my friends! This week I celebrate my 100th Wondertakings post. Can you believe it? When I began this journey almost two years ago I had no idea where it would lead. I knew it would be a lot of work and a huge commitment, but I told myself if I could help even one other person by sharing what I’ve learned, it would be worth it. I prayed God could use me and then I stepped out in faith and published my first post on April 10, 2020.

Well, God answered my prayers and then some! The blue regions in the map above show the reach my little blog has had since then. I have no idea how my posts have gotten to all these places, but I know it’s nothing I’ve done. I am humbled and awed by the way the Holy Spirit has been working through all of you to share the words I feel led to write. Thank you for being a part of this amazing adventure with me. I have been blessed week after week by sharing what I have learned, and looking back I realize the Holy Spirit has indeed been transforming me through this process. I hope the same has been true for you.

One of the ways the Holy Spirit has been working in my life is by reminding me that transformation is not a one-and-done deal. There are lessons I will have to practice over and over until I have them down. I think this is probably true for all of us. I have often told my math students that learning something the first time is hard, but recalling it later is even harder. Unless we practice a difficult concept until it becomes second nature to us, it will slip away. So I thought this would be a good time to look back and review some of the things we’ve learned. Here are “short versions” of my favorite posts. I hope you enjoy reviewing them with me!

“Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.”

1 Timothy 4:15 ESV

Wonder vs. Worry

“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”

Matthew 6:27 NIV

Many of us are chronic worriers, and we’ve definitely got plenty to keep us awake at night right now. But if we’re not careful, healthy concern can cross the line and become enslaving worry that prevents us from living our lives. This is why Jesus said not to worry. Because He ordered it, we need to pay attention. So how do we do it? How do we keep our worries under control so that we can live the lives Jesus wants us to enjoy? There are some steps we can take.

First, face the worst. I think this is the scariest part, so let’s get it over with right up front. Face your fears. As hard as this can be, facing your fears is better than hiding from them. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to use up your physical and emotional resources worrying about something that may never happen. Ask yourself, “What’s the worst possible outcome of what I’m worried about.” Try to put your worries into perspective. You may find that it’s not as bad as you fear.

Second, believe the best. This is where faith comes in. Believe that no matter what threatens you, good can and will come out of it. Believe that no matter what happens, God loves you and wants the best for you. He has invested too much in you to desert you now. He gave His Son to die for You. You belong to Him. You can depend on Him to bring good into your life. So remain faithful, optimistic, and confident in His love.

Third, do the most. You may not always be able to control what happens TO you, but you can control what happens IN you. There are very few situations that are entirely helpless. When worries get the best of you, it’s easy to get stuck thinking nothing can be done — why me? You may not like what’s happening to you, but no matter what the situation, there is usually something that can be done. Do the most you can.

Fourth, leave the rest. There are some things that are out of your control and influence and beyond your resources. But even if you don’t have the resources, God does. You can leave those worries that threaten you to One who is wiser and stronger than any of us. You can safely entrust Him with those cares and worries. Leave those in His hands and move forward. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 we are instructed to “pray without ceasing.” For me this means I have to remember to stop talking to myself and talk to God instead. If I am constantly talking to God and turning over my concerns to Him, I don’t have time to be preoccupied with worry.

I’ve found that when I face my fears, stay optimistic, do what I can, and turn the rest over to God, I can free myself to live the life He has in mind for me. For me, focusing on the wonders of God — His love, His creation, His blessings, His power — makes all the difference.

All I can do, all any of us can do, is choose what to do with the time we are given. I choose wonder over worry. I choose prayer over panic. I choose faith over fear. I choose hope and praise and light and love!

From Post #1 April 10, 2020: Wonder vs. Worry

Martian Perseverance

” . . . we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

Romans 5:3-4 NIV

If you haven’t seen The Martian, it’s about an astronaut named Mark Watney who gets separated from his crew during an emergency evacuation from Mars. The next day he wakes up stranded, alone and injured, on a hostile planet. But he decides he is not going to give up trying to get back home. He faces each problem and refuses to accept failure. That’s his only hope of survival.

This movie, for me, is a lesson on perseverance. We face problems every day. How we respond to them makes a difference. One of God’s purposes for us is to become like Christ. He wants us to mature spiritually into His image by developing Christlike character. This happens as we learn to rely on God in the midst of challenges and problems, trusting Him to help us face them. Life is difficult. It’s supposed to be. That’s how we grow.

The trick is not to give up, no matter how much I want to, no matter how many times I fail. And I have failed a lot! But I can’t let that stop me from trying again. Even in the midst of suffering we can be grateful that He will use our problems to fulfill His plan. This is hard. It’s difficult to rejoice and be grateful when we don’t even feel like getting out of bed. But this is when we have to persist and be patient. We have to think of it as a spiritual training session. We have to get up and just begin. The struggle will pay off and make us stronger as long as we don’t give up.

I think of it as clinging to Christ. All day, every day, hang on to Him for dear life. The rest will follow. When I cling to Him, I pray more, I read the Bible more, I think of others more than myself, I stay strong in the midst of struggles, and so on, and so on . . . I become more like Him. And when I mess up, I have to turn back to Him and cling tighter. It takes mental discipline to do this. It takes courage. It takes perseverance. Most of all, it takes faith.

There will be times we will fail. But we can’t let that stop us. We have to keep trying. Overcoming all the problems we face will pay off. The struggles we face in this life help to prepare us for the next. But we can’t do it alone. We need to rely on the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We also need to remember that God works through other people. This is why it’s important to remain in fellowship with other believers. When we work together and support each other, we can help each other get home!

We will face problems in this life. We will have obstacles to overcome. We will fail. We can choose to give up or we can choose to get to work!

From Post #16 July 26, 2020: Martian Perseverance

The Armor of God

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.“

Ephesians 6:10-12 NIV

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like the idea of having to face a battle against evil. But the truth is, we face evil every day whether we want to or not . . . and God wants us to be prepared. Just as I believe angels are at work in the world offering us help and support, I also believe Satan and his demons are at work trying to turn us away from God. As Christians, we need to be aware of their temptations and we need to be prepared to stand against them. God calls us to put on His armor and be prepared for spiritual battle.

The Belt of Truth: As humans, we all believe in something. What we believe determines how we choose to live. As Christians, we believe in Jesus Christ. We believe that He is the unique Son of God, sent to save us from sin through His sacrificial death and resurrection, restoring us to fellowship with God. There is nothing we can do to earn our way into heaven. We just have to accept the gift of life that Jesus offers us and make Him the Lord of our lives. This is the truth we believe, and because we do, we can get on with the life God calls us to lead.

The Breastplate of Righteousness: God wants us to be “holy and blameless” (Ephesians 1:4 NIV). He takes us as we are, but His love for us prevents Him from leaving us as we are. Once we have accepted Christ, He wants to make us like Christ. We must develop spiritual habits which allow the Holy Spirit to work effectively in our lives. We have to be disciplined in making time for prayer, Bible study, worship, service, and other aspects of Christian living which create opportunities for the Holy Spirit to do His sanctifying work.

The Gospel of Peace: We are instructed to share the good news of the peace we find in Christ. But we’ll be much more effective in sharing this news if we first find peace ourselves. This means we may need to let go of some things in order to make room for Christ’s peace to find us. We don’t need to try to do everything. We just need to give ourselves to Jesus and let His peace wash over us. Then we will have the energy we need to share the good news: in Christ we have eternal life. And more good news: eternal life starts now.

The Shield of Faith: Obeying God even when we don’t feel like it, even when we don’t feel Him around us, even when we are full of doubts — especially during these low periods — is one of the most effective ways to shield ourselves from evil and to please our heavenly Father. I believe. These are potent words, not just because they remind us of God’s power but because they let us access it. He will give us His wisdom, His strength, His love, His compassion, or anything else that’s required to face our challenges. He will even give us more faith if we ask for it. We just have to take the first step. God will help us get the rest of the way. And when our faith is strong, we can face whatever comes.

The Helmet of Salvation: At its core, I believe salvation is just a matter of accepting God’s invitation. As human beings, we are lost and living in a broken world. Because of His love for us, God sent His Son to save us from our wandering and show us the way back to Him. We just have to choose to take His hand and let Him lead us home.

The Sword of the Spirit: The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. We can think of the Word of God as anything God says. For the most part, this is recorded in Scripture, so we usually think of the Word of God as the Bible. But we don’t want to forget about the other ways God speaks to us. And we don’t want to forget about the power God’s Word has. After all, His Word brought the entire universe into existence. God went through all the “trouble” of having His words written down in a language we can understand so that we will know Him and know His plan for us. Whenever I feel confused about what God wants me to do and wish He would just tell me, I remember that He already has. It’s all in the Book!

Now we come to Paul’s final and most important instruction: pray. Pray in the Spirit with all kinds of requests. And pray for other believers who are in this battle with us. Prayer is awesome and powerful. It’s how we connect to our omnipotent God. God is at work in the world, but He doesn’t choose to work alone. He wants us to help Him. That’s why prayer matters. When we pray, we can change the world.

From Post #19 August 16, 2020: The Armor of God (Part 1): Stand
& From Post #20 August 23, 2020: The Armor of God (Part 2): Pray

My Precious

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV

As we learn to trust God to guide our path, we may come to a time when He asks us to let go of something to lighten our load and equip us for the journey ahead. It could be a habit, a desire, a relationship, or even a career. It may not even be something “bad” — at least from our perspective — so it may be hard to leave it behind. It may be something precious to us. What will we do if He asks us to lay it down? Will we trust Him and obey, or will we cling to it with all our might?

As I considered this topic, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the “one ring” from The Lord of the Rings. Sometimes, something we think is harmless turns out to be dangerous. Gandalf wisely advised his dear friend Bilbo to let go of the ring for his own good. He knew if Bilbo held on to the ring, it could take hold of him and lead him down a sinister path. The same is true of our all-wise and all-loving God. He absolutely knows what is best for us, so if He asks us to let go of something, we must trust that it’s for our own good. Refusing to do so may lead us down a dark road. If there is anything that is more precious to us than God, we are in serious trouble.

We can’t see the future, but God can. We have to trust and obey Him no matter what. If He asks us to give something up, He has a reason for it. Letting go of something precious to us can be hard, really hard, and maybe even a little scary. But God loves us and He will never forsake us or let us down. We can believe that. We must depend on Him for everything, and we must do so completely. When we do, He will lead us into beautiful blessings we can’t even imagine.

From Post #40 January 10, 2021: My Precious

Everything Is Kung Fu

“The earth and everything on it belong to the Lord.
The world and its people belong to him.”

Psalm 24:1 CEV

Since kung fu can refer to any discipline or skill which requires careful preparation, hard work, and practice, I think it fits well to descibe our spiritual journey. As Christians, we are called to faith and obedience. But this can be hard, especially when we don’t understand how God is working. We often have our own ideas about how He should accomplish His will in our lives.

One of the first lessons we all have to learn before we can be taught anything else is respect for our teachers. When my daughter first started tae kwon do as a very young child, she was taught to bow before stepping on the mat as a sign of respect. She was also taught to acknowledge any instructions she received with “Yes, sir!” or “Yes, ma’am!” These habits laid the foundation for the rest of her learning. The same is true for us. We must be in the habit of bowing before our Lord in reverence and respect when we enter His presence. This is the only way we will be teachable. And we must acknowledge and obey any instructions we receive, whether we understand them or not.

We are called to train for godliness. Like physical training, this takes hard work, and the journey is long. We must decide. God will not force us. This is our journey, and we must be ready and willing to put in the work. Once we make that decision, we will work hard because we love it. We will find satisfaction in each new achievement. More than that, we will become an example to others. So what exactly do we need to do? Make it a daily habit to bow before God in prayer and obey what He tells us in His Word. Beyond that, we must let Him guide us however He chooses to. Ultimately, it’s the Holy Spirit that does the work. It is His job to transform us into the image of Christ. It is our job to be teachable and available.

Everything we do can be used in our spiritual training. God does not waste a single second. Neither should we. We are called to trust Him, obey Him, and do everything for His glory. When we do, we’ll be amazed at what He can accomplish through us!

From Post #55 April 25, 2021: Everything Is Kung Fu

Programmed for Greatness

“God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing.”

Ephesians 2:10 NCV

As a kid in the 80’s and as an undergrad. in the early 90’s, I enjoyed learning computer programming. In fact, I mentioned to my son-in-law one day how satisfying it was writing columns of hexadecimal code in my assembly language programming classes, and he said, “You’re such a nerd!” Yes. Yes, I am. So I was inspired to give this week’s post a “computer programming for beginners” theme. I hope you enjoy nerding out with me!

Hello World: One of the first things you learn when studying a new computer language is the “Hello World” program, which just prints “Hello World” on the screen. This first lesson in programming reminds me of our first lesson in faith. God displays the basics of His divine nature through His creation. We can learn a lot about Him by simply looking around. God shows us how amazing He is through what He has created. He could have made a boring, colorless world, but He didn’t. He created a universe full of wonders to show us who He is and what He is like. And He has pre-programmed each one of us with a longing for our Creator. We are designed to be in relationship with Him, and we will never feel happy or fulfilled apart from Him. Through His creation, He calls out to us “Hello world!” and waits for us seek Him.

If Statements: In computer programming, the “if” statement indicates code that will be executed only if certain conditions are met. For example, above is a section of code from a Python program that uses a random number generator to simulate flipping a coin. If the computer randomly generates the number 1, the program executes the code that instructs it to print “Heads.” If not, it bypasses that section of code and prints “Tails.” This reminds me of the way God invites us into partnership with Him. He doesn’t force us into anything. He lets us choose the path we wish to follow. Basically, God’s saying to us: “If you get to know Me and trust Me to guide you, I’ll lead you into the amazing life I have planned for you. If not, you will bypass the great things I have in store for you and you’ll never be satisfied.” So whether or not we have a life that fulfills all our deepest longings and desires is not left up to chance like the random flip of a coin. It’s a matter of choosing to follow God’s path for our lives.

GIGO: God’s saving power is still at work in our lives every day, transforming us into the image of Christ Himself. But we have to do our part, and this begins with learning to control our thoughts. There is a slang expression in coding known as GIGO which stands for “Garbage In, Garbage Out.” It means that no matter how good your program is, if the input is bad, you will get bad results. Here is an example: The simple program above asks the user to guess a number between 1 and 100. It is written to accept only numerical input. When I input the word “garbage” instead, it crashed the program and printed a bunch of, well, garbage. There is nothing wrong with the programming. It just wasn’t designed to accept the wrong type of input. The same is true of us. God lovingly designed each one of us to live in vital union with Him and do the great things He has planned for us. But we are not programmed to function well with the wrong type of input. If we fill our minds with worries, fears, anger, bitterness, and desires contrary to God’s will, that garbage will come spilling out in our words and actions and may even crash our programming. On the other hand, if we fill our minds and hearts with the good things of God, our God-given programming will execute perfectly and we’ll become what we were always meant to be. We will discover our true purpose, our true calling, and a sense of fulfillment and happiness that we never could have obtained on our own.

Debugging: Living the Christian life is a constant process of debugging — finding errors and correcting them. It’s not always fun, but it’s very necessary. We have to trust our Programmer to help us do this every day. The program shown above has some sort of bug. It’s not a bug that causes it to completely crash, but it’s something that needs to be fixed so that the program will operate the way it was supposed to. The same is true of us. Only by letting God get all the bugs out of our programming will we be free to achieve the great things He has planned for our lives. No matter how many bugs we have in our code, God never gives up on us. He loves us and He blesses us every day because we were programmed for greatness. Let’s do our part to bring Him the glory He deserves!

From Post #75 September 12, 2021: Programmed for Greatness

Arise! Shine!

“Arise, shine!
For your light has come;
the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”

Isaiah 60:1 ISV

When we feel like our flame is inadequate, the first thing we need to do is trust God. He watches over every aspect of our lives, and He can multiply even the tiniest flicker of faith to accomplish great things. When we are tempted to give up because we feel unworthy to be used by Him, He reminds us that He can make something beautiful out of our imperfect, messy lives. The enemy tries to make us believe that we aren’t good enough, that God can’t use us, and that we should just stop trying. His goal is to keep us down. But God says, Arise! We don’t need to have everything figured out — we just need to be willing to get up and try! As we keep offering ourselves to God, letting Him fill us with His love and His grace, He empowers us to live the way He wants us to live.

God wants us to let His promises take root in us and transform who we are. As we stay connected to Him through prayer and through His Word, we learn to draw strength and courage from Him. And we learn to recognize His voice so that we understand what He’s calling us to do. God has placed us exactly where He wants us to be so that we can do the work He has for us to do. Let’s embrace His promises and honor Him with our lives.

As we let God’s light shine into us more and more, we will be transformed. We will love God more and more. Our faith will increase without bound. Our lives will become our testimony, and our capacity to love others will expand until we think more of them than we do of ourselves. We will shine God’s love and God’s hope to everyone we meet. In short, we will be equipped to do God’s “good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2 NIV). Christian perfection means to keep shining a little brighter every day.

God has raised us up with Christ (Ephesians 2:6), so let’s not let anything get us down. God doesn’t want us to wander aimlessly in the wilderness. He wants to lead us into His radiant promises for our lives. He’s got amazing things in store . . . So let’s get up and get glowing!

From Post #95 January 30, 2022: Arise! Shine!

“Don’t hide your light! Let it shine for all; let your good deeds glow for all to see, so that they will praise your heavenly Father.”

Matthew 5:15-16 TLB

This week’s Scripture passages are taken from the posts we highlighted this week. They remind us to focus on God and His wonders, to persevere along our journey, and to stand firm in the faith. The Holy Spirit transforms us and gives us the strength and power we need to shine God’s light to everyone around us. Thank you for sharing this journey with me. I can’t believe we’ve come this far. It feels like we’re just getting started. Here’s to the next 100 weeks, my friends!

“We’re on our way to chase our dreams ’cause we were made for greater things!”

MercyMe “On Our Way”

References:

• “MercyMe – On Our Way (The Cabin Sessions) ft. Sam Wesley.” YouTube, uploaded by MercyMe, 14 September 2021, https://youtu.be/AfMO4cMaKnk.

Images:

• 100 Weeks of Wonder featured image by me
• Wondertakings Users Map image taken from analytics.google.com
• Sunset image by Reimund Bertrams from Pixabay
• Mars image by Aynur Zakirov from Pixabay
• Roman Soldier at Dusk image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
• Ring image by Pau Llopart Cervello from Pixabay
• Kung Fu Kick image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
• Programming image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
• Sunrise image by Konevi from Pexels