Awesome!

“For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord? 
 Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings?  In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him.  Who is like you, Lord God Almighty? 
 You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.” (Psalm 89:6-8 NIV)

“Awesome!”  In today’s world, that exclamation could be a response to a friend’s good news, a new phone, or your lunch.  Just about anything can be considered awesome these days.  

But in the Scriptures, and by definition, the word awesome is reserved for God or something truly extraordinary, far beyond one’s normal experience.  I wonder sometimes if, by diminishing the meaning of the word, that in turn we don’t diminish God as well.  For if a lunch or a phone can be deemed awesome in our eyes, is God’s awesomeness reduced to that level?

The Psalmist writes that God is considered more awesome than anyone else, that there is no one like Him.  He is in a whole different category.  He is truly awesome personified.  Yet, if we identify normal, everyday things as awesome, can it not help but diminish what is truly awesome?

A lot of things in life can excite us and some even amaze us, but there are very few that can truly elicit awe, and those are all within God’s realm—Himself, His creation, and His grace.  Today, when you hear some news or see something very interesting, think “good! Or “great!”  But when you contemplate God or His creation, think “AWESOME!

© Jim Musser 2013