When was the last time you were wowed? Like really wowed. Like over the top wowed. Like someone went out of their way to make you feel amazing, incredible or special. When it happens, doesn’t it feel amazing?
Having someone wow you has the potential to change our minds about people, companies, and even how we want to live our lives moving forward. Sometimes, just seeing or hearing about others being wowed can also change our minds about a person, place, or thing.
I love hearing stories from friends who have been given an incredible gift of some sort—all the way from free ice cream to free vacations, at the perfect time. When we get wowed, we love to share our experience. We feel as if we have no other way to pay back the giver but to tell someone else about the joy it brought to us.
In 2018, my family was wowed in an amazing way. We had some acquaintances that seemed to go to Florida often. I simply asked them one day, “Do you guys have a timeshare or something in Florida?” They responded, “Yes, we have a Disney Timeshare that we love to use.” Then, they took a step back and said, “Wait, you have two boys, don’t you?”
Yes, yes we do. Ages 8 & 5.
"Well, we are sending you to Disney," they said.
End of story.
They would not let me refuse. In fact, they even picked the weekend we would go, and they set us up with lodging and a food package while we were there. All we had to do was get to Orlando and buy the Disney park passes.
What? Did that really just happen? WOW!
I almost started crying. I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath. I had been wowed big time!
I don't mean to be cliché, but I truly feel that my relationship with Jesus is a lot like being wowed. In 2010, before I gave my life to Christ, I was dead in my sin. Even still, Jesus offered Himself for me.
For you. For us.
And when I understood what that meant for the first time I was Holy Wowed. This is a gift that we cannot earn. In Ephesians 2:8-9 it says:
God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
This is a gift that I did not deserve and one I most certainly did not earn, yet Jesus gave His grace to me anyway. In 2010, Jesus, (much like my Disney friends of 2018), was just an acquaintance in my life. But now I see them both as part of my family. Because Jesus and my friends love me without expectations. What?! Where else does that happen? Holy WOW!
The truth is, God is Holy Wowing us all the time. It's up to us to keep our eyes open and either receive the gift or make ourselves available to be used by Him to wow someone else. It's my hope that, this week and this year, we take the time to be wowed by God and do our best to listen to the opportunities He is giving us to wow someone else.
