| Psalm 66:3 – “Say to God, ‘How awesome are Your deeds!’…” |
“Awesome” is a popular phrase used to exclaim about almost anything that excites us—from winning a video game to cheering for a winning team, to getting some article at sale price. However, do we actually feel the emotion of awe within us using this word so often? Could it be more excitement than actual awe?
Research on the impact of actually feeling “awe” has been a topic in the last several years of multiple research teams. In a book released very recently, by one such researcher, Dacher Keltner, Ph.D., he notes feelings of actual awe cannot only encourage connection with others, but can actually go toward reducing depression and anxiety as well as reduce inflamation. Take a second to reread that last sentence! I personally “feel awe” just knowing that conclusion about anxiety, depression, and inflammation goes down while interaction with others increases! Thus when we recognize the Awesome things God has done, we actually feel and function better!
God has created our bodies and minds to respond to Awe because He is Awesome. Psalms 66:3 “Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds!…”
Nehemiah 9:6, is even more specific where we are told “you the the Lord God 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…” Start purposefully looking at and for the Awesome and store up the natural benefits of being in awe of All God has provided.
-Diana Boone
