Month: August 2025

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Delighting in Wondrous Things

A white-washed church with a blue top 
Psalm 119:18 (ESV)—Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.

A paved path of cobblestones and marble winds through the white-washed buildings in Fira. The Aegean blue rooftops and yellow and red bougainvillea add pops of color to the white landscape. Shop owners greet passersby while setting up displays of scarves, clothing, and jewelry, and restaurant managers beckon the tourists to eat at their establishments. The photo-perfect Greek experience spills before the tourist’s eyes while they wander the town and gaze toward Oia in the distance.

This characteristic picture of Greece, all white-washed buildings and blue rooftops, is pretty but inadequate to represent the whole country. There is more than picturesque Santorini when we open our travel schedule to the whole country: olive groves in the countryside, the colorful medieval village of Nafplio, rock formations topped with monasteries in Meteora, not to mention Athens.

As in travel, opening our eyes to the “wondrous things” helps us discover an all-powerful God who wants his servants to find delight in obeying his Word. The psalmist in Psalm 119 expressed desire to keep God’s word and counted himself as insufficient to see the wondrous things in God’s law without God’s guidance.

Like the psalmist, we are inadequate to understand God’s statutes without his sufficiency. God teaches us Truth to ingrain in us a longing to obey his perfect Word. In this, our obedient relationship, God reveals the wondrous things of his law—a generous Father who wants us to see his sufficiency.

Without God, the wondrous things of his law remain hidden. To see these Truths and delight in his law, we can admit our inadequacy to God and then commit to studying his Word. Our study may include praying for understanding before and after we read his words, studying the context of scripture, and reading commentaries to clarify his messages. This deeper learning strengthens our relationship with God, who shows goodness to his obedient servants.

A cafe in Nafplio with a pink exterior and bougainvillea hanging against the wall
Nafplio
A cityscape of Athens from on top of a hill, looking out to sea
Athens
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Adventuring Solo

A pair of cats resting under a bougainvillea bush.
Luke 5:16 (ESV)—But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

“I’m going on a solo adventure,” I announced to my husband in our hotel room on Santorini. Not a full one-person vacation but a stretch of time alone in Megalochori before we attended a wedding—where there were people and my anxiety wanted to make an appearance.

With a goodbye kiss to my husband, I strapped my camera around my neck and invited the Holy Spirit into my walk. God met my need for peace and calm with the quiet morning hour. I passed tavernas not yet open for the day, saying hello to the Greek matriarch sitting in a chair outside a restaurant. I explored the nooks and crannies of white-washed homes and businesses, beckoning Santorini’s cat population to pose for photos.

Retreats like this in our day-to-day provide rest to our spirits. Jesus, too, restored his spirit through quiet time with God. He retreated from the hustle and bustle of the crowds who expected healing. Without such rest, the human side of him would have experienced exhaustion, mentally, physically, spiritually, and/or emotionally.

Like Jesus, we can better be present for others when we’re present for ourselves. Caring for ourselves honors God because he created us with a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). He made us to steward his creation, not to fall over from fatigue—the fall did that.

Our lives are busy, true. Things to do, people to see. Yet to carve out a time to walk and pray during a quiet time of day, meditate on a section of the Bible, write a list of things we’re thankful for, or do another practice can provide us the rest we need to serve others better in Christ’s name.

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Seeking the Fruit on the Branches

Grove of orange trees with fruit on the ground and among the branches 
Psalm 119:17 (ESV)—Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word.

The oranges on the ground beneath the trees in the National Garden beckoned my stomach to growl. Saliva filled my mouth, an image of that morning’s orange pie stamping itself on my brain. I wondered out loud to my husband, “Do you think it’s okay to pick it up and eat it, or will I get in trouble?”

Why did I wonder this? Because we were strolling next to the Greek Parliament building and my mind conjured the fruit police swooping in. And, quite honestly, I thought it a waste to let the fruit sit on the ground and rot. Why let the ants devour it when the sweet citrus could fill my belly instead?

My stomach had the wrong idea, though. Why was I seeking the fruit on the ground when the tree still nourished the fruit hanging from the branches? The spiritual answer to this question comes from Psalm 119.

In this praise-filled poem, the anonymous writer extolled the transformative power of obeying God’s decrees when, post-exile, many of the people of Israel still sought the fruit on the ground (idols, for one) rather than the fruit in the tree (God’s promise of redemption and restoration).

Like the poet, we share a relationship with the Lord and become beneficiaries of his promises by putting his principles into practice. Our inheritance includes the benefit of his wisdom, which helps us understand why we’re obeying him.

Truly, seeking the fruit hanging from the branches fills us with the confidence to obey our kind, generous, and merciful God. Seeking him is as simple as turning to the Bible for guidance, asking the advice of a trusted fellow Christian, or praying—because God is waiting for us to open the page, ask the question, or make the request so he can answer.