Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. - Psalm 119:18 (ESV)
Children are easily amazed. They wonder at the world around them. Sadly, it does not take long for a certain kind of cynicism to take hold. But Christians are not cynics. We are not jaded by the darkness and death in the world. We have a hope in Christ that fills our hearts with wonder. And we can cultivate that in the students as well.
God is truly wonderful. Not only is God wonderful, but the world He has made and the gospel he has made available are too. Indeed, God is the very source of wonder itself, because without Him nothing that is made would be made. It stands to reason that the “law,” that is, the Law of Moses, referring to the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, would be filled with wondrous things. It is the Word of God, and it reveals wonderful things. This is to say that there are many things that provoke wonder or awe in the reader. It is in the law that we read of the work of God in the world—from creation, to the flood, to the calling of Abraham, to Moses and the rescue of Israel from Egypt.
Why Leaders Should Care
Why should small group leaders care about cultivating wonder? It is because the psalmist teaches that it is important. But why is that? Just consider the function of wonder in our hearts. The experience of wonder or awe is a pleasant experience. It is a sensation of something much greater than us that weighs down on our imagination and fills our minds with something too big and majestic for us to contain. This is a good thing, because if anything or anyone is wonderful, then God is. When people are filled with wonder at something, they are captivated by it, drawn to it, impressed by it. For the psalmist to behold wondrous things from God’s law is to be captivated by God, impressed by God, drawn to God. To wonder at the law is, in effect, to wonder at God. This is what the psalmist is talking about. He wants to love, honor, and worship God. Wonder is part of the natural response of a regenerate heart to a true sense of who God is.
But we must take notice of the fact that the psalmist asks God to open his eyes. If God does not open his eyes, then he will not see. If God does not open students’ eyes, they will not see. What, then, can leaders do to cultivate wonder? Leaders have no power to cause students to experience wonder at the word of God. Nevertheless, how will the students learn unless someone teaches them? God ordains means for people to learn to wonder at God’s Word. Small group leaders can be a means that God uses to cause students’ eyes to be opened to the wonders of Scripture. The act of reading Psalm 119:18 and learning from it to ask God to open our eyes to see wonders is an example of cultivating wonder. The psalmist prays for his eyes to be opened, and from that prayer we learn to pray the same. Small group leaders can do the very same thing with students. Leaders can talk to students about the wonders of God’s Word. They can exhort the students to wonder at God’s Word. And they can demonstrate wonder at God’s Word.
Watch Out for Cynicism
It is all too easy for small group leaders to become cynical. They cannot change students’ hearts, and there can, in God’s providence, be extended periods of time in which there appears to be no work of the Spirit going on in the hearts of the students. Thus, a leader is left to wonder alone at God’s glories. This is a sad and distressing situation. What are leaders to do?
Leaders cannot force wonder. They must wait. They must trust in the sovereign timing of God to work in students’ hearts, and they must pray. However, leaders need not be inactive in the meantime. If God is to work in the students’ lives, we know that what students learn and see while they are still dead in sins can become useful and helpful for them after God saves them. The apostle Paul benefited from the biblical knowledge he gained before he was saved.
There will be times when leaders need to show students what is supposed to be wondered at. Sometimes, a student may wonder at things that are secondary to the glories of God, such that it is unclear whether God is opening their eyes to wonder at Him or if they are simply intellectually curious about some particular thing in Scripture. What leaders can emphasize by word and example is the wonder that we ought to have at Christ Himself. We are not worshipers of ideas, but of a Person. We do not follow a philosophy, but the God-Man Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
In sum, leaders need to remember that they cannot change students’ hearts. Nevertheless, God uses means to do so. Even the Word is a means, since God could change people’s hearts without ever giving them the Scriptures. But God did give us the Scriptures, and the verse at the head of this article teaches us that we can ask God to open our eyes to behold wondrous things in His Word. But God uses other means as well, and small group leaders can be one of them. We can teach students that they need to ask God to open their eyes. We can also show them by example what it looks like to wonder at Scripture. Small group is an appropriate place to do that. We do not need always to be focused on asking students questions. We can also marvel openly at God’s Word, expressing our amazement and awe at God and the things He reveals. This can be a great help to the students to understand that the Scripture is not a dry and dusty book to us. We ourselves are amazed at what is there, because the God who is there has revealed Himself in it.