Embracing Wonder In 2026
With Christmas 2025 wrapped and décor back in storage, can we continue to let the wonder and miraculous birth of Jesus resonate and shape how we live and work throughout 2026?
“Wonder” is the word God has given me in 2026.
When the shepherd saw the angels break into a chorus in the skies proclaiming the birth of the Son of God, whom we would come to know as Christ Jesus, they were initially frightened, thinking them ghosts. Why did the angels appear to lowly shepherds who had no significant influence? Why hadn’t they appeared to influential leaders, priests, and kings? I believe it was because the shepherds were paying attention. They needed a solution and an answer to the crazy, uncertain world they lived in. They were shepherds who needed hope.
Are you a shepherd in God’s kingdom on earth today?
As artists, you are caring for His sheep through creativity in media, entertainment, music, art, and leadership opportunities. Using your artistic talents and skills, your artistry provides a type of emotional and spiritual nourishment and clothing for audiences and their minds, which affects hearts and, in turn, shapes what we say, believe, and choose. At the perplexing sight of the host of angels, the shepherds didn’t demand credentials, nor did they need clarification that what they were seeing was real and significant to motivate them to search for the location where the manager held the Savior of their souls. They went ahead in trust and curiosity – in wonder.
Wonder is not weakness.
Wonder creates boldness in leadership. It is an inward knowledge that the unshakeable promises God has given us are true and that He is trustworthy. But the way God delivers them is never how we think. It reflects a creative God who supernaturally delivers His people and word. Knowing His nature allows us to trust in His wonder. It is a type of humility. Trusting in the miraculous is not the absence of leadership, but it is a confident knowledge that God is in control when things don’t make sense. The shepherds didn’t arrive at the manger with strategic business plans, spreadsheets, or three goals formulated by AI. They came in pure, unfiltered awe.
God achieves His most significant accomplishments through curiosity.
The three Wise Men were the next ones to find our Savior by observing a curious, moving star. They bowed before him, laying down their crowns at the feet of a child singled out by the heavenly sign. They came from wealth and influence, offering kingly gifts in a bold counter-cultural declaration of worship and wonder. Endless Bible stories are filled with curious, strange, and miraculous events. The stories of Noah, Moses, Abraham, Esther, David, and the birth of Jesus, along with the miracles He performed while He walked on the earth, should give us pause and prompt us to walk confidently in wonder. God takes the natural and performs the supernatural. He is not a God who lays out all details of His plans, but He asks us to trust Him in the nonsensical. The shepherds and the Wise Men came with open hearts, bold faith, and expectant joy, and they witnessed the miraculous glory of God.
As 2026 begins with a rush, choose to turn off your screens more often this year to ponder and walk in the miraculous wonder of God. Turn down the volume on your need to understand and let curiosity and the wonder of God lead you into bold new places. The shepherds showed up. Will you?
“Everyone was gripped with great wonder and awe, and they praised God, exclaiming, “We have seen amazing things today!” (Luke 5:26 NLT)