When I first met M, he was just another new guy in our life group. He tells the story about how I pawned him off on others in our group and sent him to have lunch with strangers. The truth is we were all strangers at that point, and I didn’t want to leave him completely stranded. Then he disappeared for awhile and then he reappeared, and then he started coming around more regularly. We had an occasional conversation from time to time, nothing particularly noteworthy. I remember, though, a couple of wow moments, comments or observations that caught my attention, moments that likely went unnoticed by others but things that I noticed, things that piqued my interest, things that reflected a tender heart and a strong character, things that made me want to know more of who this guy was. The wow led to a desire to know the who.
It reminds me of Ruth in the Bible who found herself working the fields belonging to Boaz. And something about her caught his attention. And so he asked, “Whose young woman is that?” Something about the way she carried herself, and then her reputation as one of noble character, one who had left everything to return to Israel with her mother-in-law, something about her caught his attention. There were some wow moments there, and the wow led to a desire to know the who. And so Boaz invites her to feast with the workers. He invites her into his favor and his protection, and ultimately into relationship with him as her kinsman-redeemer. (See the book of Ruth for the full WOW story.)
It also reminds me of the great WOW story in my life. As many of you know, I grew up in church and spoke Christianese like a second language. But it was only when I was 25 that I experienced the Wow factor, the transforming love of Christ in my life. It was a time when I felt like I was a failure, a time when I was confronted with things I didn’t like about myself, a time when I desperately needed to be loved, a time when I was convinced I didn’t deserve it. Enter grace, and a dear pastor who one day grabbed my arm. Without any premeditated intent or any hesitation whatsoever, he spoke the words I most needed to hear, “I still love you.” Powerful words. Enter God. And a radio that played the song “When God Ran” in which the chorus echoes the same refrain over and over, “Do you know I still love you?” Transforming words, life-changing truth. Wow! That’s the Gospel, the GOOD news, that “God demonstrates His love for us in this, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” When we were at our worst, when we are at our worst, God still loves us, and He lives that out tangibly through the cross, through new life, abundant life, eternal life in Him. WOW! If He can love me like that, I want to know Him, to walk with Him, to be in relationship with Him all of my days. The Wow always brings us to the Who, it gives us a desire to know Him and to be known by Him, to experience the fullness of His love and His grace, to be in relationship with the One who created us for relationship with Him, the One who invites us to dance in His presence and to enjoy Him forever. WOW! My life has never been the same.
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