The WONDER of Identity
By Sylvia Kamande, BJM Families Ministry Director
The first time I encountered the word WONDER was a few years ago..
I had been going through a season working through some past and present disappointments. I began looking up the meaning of disappointment, specifically what its antonym is. So, I googled it. “What is the antonym of disappointment?”
… THE WORD “WONDER” POPPED UP. THIS SENT ME ON A JOURNEY THAT I AM STILL ON.
A longtime friend confirmed through observation “The word Wonder has clearly been a thread in your life".
This season, everywhere I’ve gone, WONDER has seemed to pop up in conversations, songs, poems, art. So much so that I could not help ask,
“Lord, what are you trying to tell me?”
Since the age of 7 when I first watched Star Wars “ A New Hope”, I was mesmerized by Princess Lea on all of her galactic adventures. I realized I had to go back to 7 year old Sylvia in order to relive my childlike wonder and perception of Jesus. A time when I fully believed that I could be Princess Lea and nothing could stop me. But as each disappointment happened throughout my life, they slowly stripped away my sense of wonder.
Over the last few years I have had to lay down my own perceptions of what that looks like. I had to lay aside…
How to appear in the presence of God.
My response to God’s grace when I feel I have fallen short.
My insecurities when I feel I am not being who God called me to be.
Perfectionism - that I can't have one thing out of place in order to be acceptable to God.
Through all of these things, I realized that my weakness and brokenness would actually be the key that would unlock my wonder identity. Coming to the end of myself made me look up and ask the Father “when you look at me what do you see?” He took me back to Genesis 1:31 “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good”.
In the Hebrew the word “very good” means flourishing, wonder. Wonder in Hebrew means “pele” is derived from the word “pala” which means to be “surpassing or extraordinary”.
We were created to be surpassing and extraordinary!
This may seem a little daunting, my immediate reaction sometimes with ‘works’, is how do I attain it? What do I need to do? But, the more I meditated on it, spent time in prayer and deeper study, I realized it wasn’t something to attain but something we are called to be. The full embodiment of this word is JESUS and He is within me/us.
I am ALREADY surpassing and extraordinary, flourishing, FULL OF WONDER.
The invitation now was not to attain, but stand, be still and listen and let Jesus remind me everyday of who I am. Especially, especially when I think I have fallen short. I am choosing to invite the Father to remind me of this truth and asking my community to remind me. A really good friend of mine calls them your “campfire friends”, because we were created to flourish in community.
Who are your ‘wonder campfire friends’?
Who will remind you of who you are? That you ARE wonder - surpassing and extraordinary.
