In the Greek it is not a fleeting feeling, but something we feel in our core. It is a sense of deepest awe, humility, joy, and even confusion or wonderment. 

When I look at life through a lens of the world, everything feels fragile, fraught, fearful, and uncertain. The world is in chaos without obvious stability, safety, and peace. 

God reminds me that if I want to discern and perceive His good, pleasing, and perfect will, I cannot look through the lens of the patterns of this world – a lens of fear, anger, rage, or blame. 

When Mary and Joseph heard Simeon bless Jesus, they were amazed precisely because what they heard was not expected. 

Awe and wonderment have the element of surprise, something beyond the ordinary. 

Where have I experienced amazement?

Dad’s death amazed me. Everyone was all together, praying and singing in a time of shocking sadness that somehow had an amazing sense of joy and peace. This still shocks me. It is not the pattern of the world to find peace when someone is dying or to be filled with inner joy when a deeply loved father takes a final breath. 

But this was a moment of deepest awe, wonder, humility, surprise. 

What has caused you to be amazed?

What pattern of this world do you need to stop following?

What emotion is blinding you from being amazed?

How can you test and approve that you are following God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will?

How does amazement play a role in this discernment?