Past Commentary by a Common Terry
Amazing!!
May 3, 2026
I was maybe ten years old and my brother and I were visiting kinfolk one town over. My uncle owned a tv and appliances shop. He sold the latest models, but I think the steady money was in repairs.
It was at his little shop that I got a look at the newest innovations in the electronics world. Multiple color televisions on display. New console stereos (remember how big those were?). The mesmerizing tv remote control. The latest in appliances—washers and dryers, fridges, portable dishwashers, freezers. That little place had it all.
But nothing astounded me like the day when my older cousin told us he had something brand new to show us in his dad’s store. It was something called a “microwave.” This was not just some new way to heat food. It was a true luxury! The going price for a microwave back then was around $500. That’s the equivalent of more than $4,700 today! It’s no wonder my uncle continuously told us to get away from it. “Don’t touch it! Don’t even look at it!”
But, of course, my cousin had to demonstrate this new kitchen magic. He put a Styrofoam cup with cold water in it...and we watched it, fairly quickly, come to a boil. In about one minute there was a full-blown, true-blue boil!! To say we were amazed is an understatement. That’s pretty much as far as the demonstration got as my uncle ran us off and, besides, we didn’t have anything else to put in to see what it would do.
It would be another 15+ years before LaNelle and I would buy a microwave, and even then, it felt a bit self-indulgent. Now, they are everywhere. Everywhere! Today, we can buy a countertop unit for less than a hundred bucks. If you want a better one, maybe bigger with more functions, you might have to spring for $150.
What was amazing was also unreachable. Then it became a consideration, and then a reality, and then useful, and now it is common and run-of-the-mill. Who thinks once, or much less twice, about the amazing, remarkable, magical microwave oven?
Amazing is an overused word. Just about anything and everything can be described as an amazing experience or vision. But the very idea of amazement should be reserved for that which truly brings awe and marvel to our hearts. It isn’t normal or common. It is rare and exceptional.
God is amazing.
God should provoke wonder, awe, marvel, and amazement.
We occasionally try to explore the depth of God’s reality in our songs. “I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus, the Nazarene….” (I Stand Amazed by Charles Gabriel, 1905) “I’m forgiven because You were forsaken...Amazing Love.” (You Are My King {Amazing Love} by Billy James Foote, 1997).
And, of course, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like….” (Amazing Grace by John Newton, 1772).
The word amaze, or some derivative of it, is in our Bibles, but not excessively. The Greek word is more usually translated marvel or wonder. The apostles thought they were going to die in Matthew 8 because of the storm on the sea. At His word, Jesus stilled the storm. “And the men marveled…” (verse 27 in the ESV) In the NIV, they were amazed.
It’s easy to be amazed when we see something we’ve never seen before, cannot imagine, or cannot do ourselves. How in the world we can so easily become casual about God is beyond me! And yet, I am as guilty of it as the next believer. I get comfortable with the Bible narrative. The astounding becomes a bit stale.
I don’t just need to revisit the text. I need to reengage with the reality of the text. The universe is by His hands. The miracles announce His power and dominion over nature. The heavens proclaim the wonders of His creation. And the cross? It is not just a symbol or a piece of jewelry. It is the ultimate, “God can do what I can’t do,” declaration of the Bible. God saved you and me from certain death. Not from near death or possible death. Certain death. Amazing Love. Amazing Grace. “I stand amazed in the presence…”
A new technological innovation can stop us in our tracks. But are we guilty of doing a little sidestep around the eternal truth of Jesus’ blood and our spiritual rescue?
It will always be amazing.
It was at his little shop that I got a look at the newest innovations in the electronics world. Multiple color televisions on display. New console stereos (remember how big those were?). The mesmerizing tv remote control. The latest in appliances—washers and dryers, fridges, portable dishwashers, freezers. That little place had it all.
But nothing astounded me like the day when my older cousin told us he had something brand new to show us in his dad’s store. It was something called a “microwave.” This was not just some new way to heat food. It was a true luxury! The going price for a microwave back then was around $500. That’s the equivalent of more than $4,700 today! It’s no wonder my uncle continuously told us to get away from it. “Don’t touch it! Don’t even look at it!”
But, of course, my cousin had to demonstrate this new kitchen magic. He put a Styrofoam cup with cold water in it...and we watched it, fairly quickly, come to a boil. In about one minute there was a full-blown, true-blue boil!! To say we were amazed is an understatement. That’s pretty much as far as the demonstration got as my uncle ran us off and, besides, we didn’t have anything else to put in to see what it would do.
It would be another 15+ years before LaNelle and I would buy a microwave, and even then, it felt a bit self-indulgent. Now, they are everywhere. Everywhere! Today, we can buy a countertop unit for less than a hundred bucks. If you want a better one, maybe bigger with more functions, you might have to spring for $150.
What was amazing was also unreachable. Then it became a consideration, and then a reality, and then useful, and now it is common and run-of-the-mill. Who thinks once, or much less twice, about the amazing, remarkable, magical microwave oven?
Amazing is an overused word. Just about anything and everything can be described as an amazing experience or vision. But the very idea of amazement should be reserved for that which truly brings awe and marvel to our hearts. It isn’t normal or common. It is rare and exceptional.
God is amazing.
God should provoke wonder, awe, marvel, and amazement.
We occasionally try to explore the depth of God’s reality in our songs. “I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus, the Nazarene….” (I Stand Amazed by Charles Gabriel, 1905) “I’m forgiven because You were forsaken...Amazing Love.” (You Are My King {Amazing Love} by Billy James Foote, 1997).
And, of course, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like….” (Amazing Grace by John Newton, 1772).
The word amaze, or some derivative of it, is in our Bibles, but not excessively. The Greek word is more usually translated marvel or wonder. The apostles thought they were going to die in Matthew 8 because of the storm on the sea. At His word, Jesus stilled the storm. “And the men marveled…” (verse 27 in the ESV) In the NIV, they were amazed.
It’s easy to be amazed when we see something we’ve never seen before, cannot imagine, or cannot do ourselves. How in the world we can so easily become casual about God is beyond me! And yet, I am as guilty of it as the next believer. I get comfortable with the Bible narrative. The astounding becomes a bit stale.
I don’t just need to revisit the text. I need to reengage with the reality of the text. The universe is by His hands. The miracles announce His power and dominion over nature. The heavens proclaim the wonders of His creation. And the cross? It is not just a symbol or a piece of jewelry. It is the ultimate, “God can do what I can’t do,” declaration of the Bible. God saved you and me from certain death. Not from near death or possible death. Certain death. Amazing Love. Amazing Grace. “I stand amazed in the presence…”
A new technological innovation can stop us in our tracks. But are we guilty of doing a little sidestep around the eternal truth of Jesus’ blood and our spiritual rescue?
It will always be amazing.