shivering in awe

Pinball Machine Moment! One tiny thing bounced around in my brain and went all over the place. But I loved this journey and destination.

I came across that AWESOME scripture in my Bible reading yesterday. It struck me and stuck with me. A keeper, for sure. Haven’t we all had this feeling many times in life? Two friends together recently coined the term “JAHmazing” ... it’s when Jehovah does something amazing that leaves you awestruck. And here’s a verse so poetically describing it. It was one of those scriptures that leaped off the page right into my heart. And then it started swimming around in my head. So I looked up the definition of awe:

an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, respect, fear, surprise and wonder produced by that which is grand, sublime, majestic, extremely powerful

Yes! We shiver in awe of our magnificent almighty God. I looked up the definition of reverence:

a feeling or attitude of deep respect tinged with awe; veneration, honor, admiration

Yes! He does things that leave us speechless with respect and admiration. I got to thinking. In this challenging pandemic era, how great would it be to make a list of things that make us shiver with awe and speechless with reverence ... and then spend some focused energy meditating on each item long enough to feel uplifted, strengthened, grateful, empowered, valued by Jehovah, etc? Just in creation alone there are unlimited examples, plus examples from our personal lives -- the tiny and gigantic things he has done that struck us with overwhelming wonder and left us speechless. And how about the breathtakingly spectacular things that lie ahead for the rest of forever? I’m going to take on this project.

The exact energetic opposite and one of the antonyms of awe is apathy:

the absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement; lack of interest in or concern for things that others find moving or exciting; behavior that shows no interest or energy and shows that someone is unwilling to take action, especially over something important

There is zero energy in apathy. There is a passionate energy in awe. How sad that many people in this world are apathetic toward God. But for those of us who love him, when we think about him and his works we have the opposite reaction: we shiver with awe!

Part B of this story: while searching online for a picture to use as the background for this verse because I wanted to preserve it in my spiritual treasures file, I immediately stumbled upon an article that describes the fascinating effect awe has on the brain. https://www.mindful.org/what-awe-looks-like-in-the-brain

A highlight: Through functional magnetic resonance imaging, scanning the brain activity of the participants revealed that “awe may help stop us from ruminating on our problems and daily stressors. Instead, awe seems to pull us out of ourselves and make us feel immersed in our surroundings and the larger world (which may help explain its tendency to inspire generosity and a sense of connection with others).” The article explains why.

Bonus:
In the article, get more goodies by clicking on the link in the last paragraph that says "find your awe”. It leads to the UC Berkeley's resources section providing exercises for developing positive skills. There are 5 exercises for developing awe, including an awesome video of Yosemite National Park that will inspire awe!

One of the studies found that due to personality traits, people differ in how intense those awe experiences are. But regardless of our personality type, awe is within our reach. If it doesn't come naturally it is definitely worth the effort. It will draw us even closer to Jehovah and enhance our well being, to boot. A win-win situation.

And here’s a twist, another benefit: this Watchtower article links awe to integrity ...

*** w19 February pp. 5-6 par. 11&12 Keep Your Integrity! ***

HOW WE CAN KEEP OUR INTEGRITY AT THIS TIME

Satan has intensified his attacks in these troubled “last days.” (2 Tim. 3:1) In such dark times, how can we strengthen ourselves to maintain our integrity? Again, we can learn a lot from Job. Long before his tests arose, Job had already built up a record of integrity. Consider three lessons we can learn from him about strengthening ourselves to keep our integrity.

(1) Job strengthened his love for God by developing awe for Jehovah. Job spent time contemplating the marvels of Jehovah’s creation. (Read Job 26:7, 8, 14.) He was awestruck when he thought about the earth, the sky, the clouds, and the thunder, yet he recognized that he knew very little about the vastness of creation. He also felt awe for Jehovah’s expressions. “I have treasured up his sayings,” Job said of God’s words. (Job 23:12) Job’s awe and respect for Jehovah moved him. He loved his Father and wanted to please him. Job’s determination to keep his integrity thus grew stronger. We need to do as Job did. We know far more about the marvels of creation than did people of Job’s time. And we have the entire inspired Bible to help us to know Jehovah as he really is. All that we learn can help to fill our heart with awe. Our awe and respect for Jehovah will, in turn, move us to love and obey him and to build up our deep desire to keep our integrity.—Job 28:28.

And more lessons from Job: remember these great videos from the 2016 Regional Convention? 9 magnificent creations we can learn from.

Lessons From the Book of Job—Animal Creation
https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/VODBibleTeachings/pub-jwbcov_201605_7_VIDEO

Lessons From the Book of Job—Natural Forces
https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/VODBibleTeachings/pub-jwbcov_201605_6_VIDEO

And how about the 2019 Regional Convention, where we learned that everything on earth is made from fewer than 100 naturally occurring elements -- we are made of stardust! When we research supernovas it becomes clear that human beings were not an afterthought in relation to the creation of the heavens, we were the forethought! Stars are the factories manufacturing the building blocks for life. How does Jehovah do it? Why does he do it? https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/2019Convention/pub-jwbcov_201905_11_VIDEO

So let’s SHIVER IN AWE of our awesome Jehovah, as often as possible!!!

Feel free to share … what makes you shiver with awe for him?