Don't Forget the Little Things: Why We Should Live Lives Filled with Wonder

We live in a world that's obsessed with big things.

And by big things, a lot of the time, it means physical things—winning that lottery, buying that car, donating xxx amount of money, the amount of followers you have ... the list goes on and on.

I'm sure most of us have fallen into that trap. I know I have.

When we lift our eyes to bigger things, dreams, aspirations, goals—while not at all bad—we tend to take away our sights on what God has given us. The small things in our lives become invisible to us.

And this is especially a problem in our society today, one that yells at us to focus on the big things in life. Something I see a lot is when people get so caught up in the big details of life, they forget the things that matter.

Now, I'm not saying no one should have dreams and goals. But we need to be ever so careful not to slip into those traps. We need to focus on what matters, and oftentimes, those come to us on a smaller scale.

My COVID story ... how God opened my eyes to His amazingness.

Looking back on before COVID hit, I don't think I'd say I was a Christian—yes, I said the prayer, but I wasn't fully dedicated to a relationship with Christ. I was focused on purely living. On chasing my dreams, my aspirations for my life. God was basically out of the picture, though yes, I did occasionally pray and ask Him to bless whatever I was doing or work something out for my good.

Around that time, I was busy with school. Going to classes, catching up with homework, and writing on the side. I didn't have any time for God. Even worse, I didn't really care that I didn't have time for God. I thought He would just automatically slide into the cracks of my schedule.

(Don't I sound like such a terrible person? 😅😂)

But when COVID hit, all those classes just ... stopped. A lot of the things I was anticipating to happen in 2020 didn't. It was a huge disappointment, and I was just utterly frustrated with life.

One small gift this whole crisis gave me was time. Suddenly, I had more time on my hands than I'd ever had before.

Filled with disappointment, I turned to God. And He was just right there, waiting. Just as He had done the whole time.

I began to see the world differently. Instead of a grey-blue blur of colors that sped by as I went through my life, I saw it as something different—a masterpiece from God. Broken, but beautiful still.

God didn't have to make colors, I thought. But He did anyway.

I spent more time watching people. I was surprised to notice things about these people in my life I had never seen before.

God helped me see. He opened my eyes to the world—and it was like I was seeing it for the first time.

Are you living a life of wonder?

All this to say, how many times do we stop to consider these tiny little things, tiny pieces of stained glass in the stained glass masterpiece that is life? How many times do we thank God for the little things He has created, things we barely noticed? God didn't NEED to create scents. He didn't NEED to make us all unique. But He did anyway.

All these little things in our lives, all the wonder we feel, should serve as arrows, pointing us to Him and his amazing love for us. These things couldn't have been created by a sheer explosion. They were crafted diligently by Him.

I believe King David knew about this. The Psalms are rich with descriptions of God's beautiful creation. Even when David was hiding, fearing for his life, he looked around with wonder and awe at what was around Him are perfect evidence of what God can do.

People in the Bible who lived a life of wonder

In addition, awe at God's creation shows up so many times in the Bible.

The people of Israel knew this:

“You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. —Nehemiah 9:6

Job's account is especially inspiring to me. Within context, he was going through probably the worst years in his life. His children were dead, he had lost his property, and he was dying too. But still, he spoke in awe of God.

“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind." —Job 12:7-10

Would you be able to do the same? Notice the little things that we often forget, and praise God for them, even in hardship?

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In closing, don't miss the little things God has for you in life. They're little, yes, but even the greatest redwoods started with something as tiny as a seed. We should ask Him to open our eyes to the beauty in a broken world, where there are reminders of His great love for us in every second.