expectations

Unconceived Wonder

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Sometime last year, while surfing the web, I stumbled upon a clickbait article with an intriguing title about world wonders that have been discovered through Google Earth. People have used Google’s eye-in-the-sky viewing ability to find previously unknown wonders on earth. Here are some examples:

In Greenland, grainy images revealed two rivers in the far North. Sarah McNair-Landry, Erik Boomer, and Ben Stookesberry went on an expedition to find them. They kite-skied over 600 miles across the frozen land and then paddled the waters. These are the northernmost waters that people have paddled.

Film producer Sergio Neuspiller was in Argentina scouting new filming locations when he discovered the spinning island called “El Ojo.” This circular island sits in a slightly wider circular lake. A combination of wind, current, and methane gas in the water help the land float and spin.

Image credit: Parque Nacional Ciervo de los Pantanos

The world’s largest natural arch was found with the help of Google Earth! Locals knew about this land bridge spanning the Buliu River in southern China, but Jay Wilbur led a team on a rafting trip to locate and measure the arch. It is nearly 400 feet long, over 100 feet longer than the previous record holder in Utah!

Google Earth has helped people discover a meteorite crater in Egypt, an entrance to a cave containing early human skeletons in South Africa, and a hidden rainforest in Mozambique. It’s humbling to think that, despite all we know about this incredible world, new wonders continue to amaze. Discoveries shift our own understanding and expectations.

Our life expectations can shift, too. Having entered 2025, we may think we know what to expect, but new wonders have yet to be experienced. Perhaps God has a new endeavor for you to undertake – one that will fill you with joy. Maybe this year’s events will leave you dazzled with God’s imaginative creativity. Are you looking forward to that?

Isaiah 64:3 describes God performing “awesome works that we did not expect.” Paul quotes a later verse in this chapter, writing,

“What no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived — God has prepared these things for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

The same God at work among His people in ancient times is at work among us in 2025! Let’s look forward to what God will bring us. I encourage you to be ready to respond to God’s prompting this year. It could be an unconceived wonder that God is bringing you to increase your delight in Him.

Fish Stories

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Image by Khalid Mehmoodfrom Pixabay.

This time of year, the only amazing “catches” we might hear about relate to football, but fishing aficionados love to talk about their fish stories, too. You may have heard a few whoppers in your day, but I came across a fish story that involves a catch even more amazing than landing some big, elusive fish nicknamed “Bubba.”

An ABC news report describes a fishing trip that 14-year-old Connor Halsa enjoyed with his grandfather in northern Minnesota, when Connor made a startling catch. He reeled in a wallet, which contained $2,000 cash! Eventually, Connor was able to track down the wallet’s owner, Jim Denney of Iowa. Jim came to retrieve the wallet and was impressed that Connor turned down his offer of reward money. Jim gave Connor a custom fishing cooler and took the family to dinner as a thank you. I love what Connor said when asked why he was honest and returned the cash: “We didn’t really work hard for the money. He did, so it was his money.”

As Christians, we are familiar with Christ’s command to be “fishers of men.” Mark 1:17 says, “And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men’” (ESV). That promise can sometimes feel daunting and overwhelming. We strive to follow Jesus, but our fishing skills sometimes seem lacking. When I go fishing – for fish – I know the basics but lack the sense to know where the fish congregate, what time of day is best, or what angle I should cast from relative to the sun’s positioning. Experienced fishermen know these sorts of things, but when I consider them, I figure it’s best that I not cast my line into the water at all.

Have you considered that Jesus simply wants us to cast a line into the water? Following Him is more about fishing than catching. Experienced fishermen have had days with rotten luck, while newbies have enjoyed amazing days without knowing why.

But none of them can catch anything if they don’t cast a line into the water, just as Connor would not have caught that wallet without casting his line. Maybe his line had snagged a few times earlier on a stick or seaweed, or it may have even snapped on an old tire. Maybe that’s how you feel.

We all have had trouble when attempting to fish for people – to share our faith and connect people to Christ and to fellowship with other believers. If that has kept you from “fishing” recently, are you ready to try again? How might you cast a line into the water this week?

Who knows what fish stories you will tell!

Challenging Perceptions

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The world of color perception science is undergoing a paradigm shift. According to a press release from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, a one hundred-year-old math error related to our understanding of human color perception was recently corrected. Roxana Bujack, one of the researchers at the laboratory and lead author of the team’s paper, shared, “Our research shows that the current mathematical model of how the eye perceives color differences is incorrect.”

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

In a culture that thrives on visuals, this is a big deal. The discovery could make changes that lead to improved screens and better data graphics. Even paints and textiles could be affected.  

The current (and now disputed) model of three-dimensional color perception uses geometric principles known as Riemannian geometry to estimate perceived color changes on such shapes. In other words, 3-D shapes look more realistic on your 2-D screen.

Still confusing?

It’s okay. I don’t quite get it either, but here is what stands out to me: our perceptions are not always accurate. These researchers would even say that our perceptions of our perceptions are not always accurate.

Seeing a screen clearly is nice, but seeing life clearly is far better. You could say that life’s mistakes come from decisions we make based on a distorted sense of reality. We give into a sinful habit because we think it will satisfy us, but it doesn’t. We become absorbed in those screens, forgetting what is more important. We neglect the things that matter most, foolishly elevating something of far lesser significance. Fortunately, God has provided us with some calibration tools – think of those old TV color adjustment knobs – in His Word.

Paul writes to the Ephesian believers his prayer that God would reveal the truth of their reality to them, “having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places” (Eph 1:18-20 ESV).

This reality adjustment changes how we live! If you tend to have a defeatist, pessimistic outlook, you can recalibrate to being a person of hope. When you are tempted to invest in the comfort and wealth of this life, consider that a glorious inheritance awaits those who live for Christ. As you serve the Lord, you need not do so in your own strength, for His resurrection-level power is at work through you!

How will this recalibration – this new perception of reality – adjust the way you live?

What about ministry?

We serve the Lord with a perception of reality that may also not be accurate. In churches, we tend to follow paradigms that we have always followed. We are more likely to keep doing what we have always done rather than consider our approach to ministry.

Do you serve as one who knows the hope to which God calls you? That kind of hope is infectious, and you’ll find others adopting hope-filled attitudes. Be a person of hope.

Does your giving reflect the knowledge of a glorious inheritance that awaits you? Your generosity with your possessions and your time flows from the realization that what you do in this life should be oriented to the blessing God bestows in the next.

Are your ministry energies characterized by the knowledge that God’s limitless power works through you? If not, you may find yourself continually depleting your batteries because you serve in your own strength. Change your expectations about what will come from your efforts. God loves to work through people who are willing conduits for Him.

Challenge and recalibrate your perception in life and in ministry.