Most men live with their heads down. Bills to pay. Deadlines to meet. Kids to raise. A body that feels more tired than it used to. A phone that never stops buzzing. It is no wonder so many Christian men feel spiritually flat. We live in a world that steals awe from us. Awe is not some poetic luxury. Awe is fuel for the masculine soul. When a man loses his sense of wonder, he slowly becomes a shadow of who God designed him to be.
Awe of Himself is one of the most powerful gifts God gives His people. It breaks pride. It softens stubborn hearts. It reawakens courage. It reminds a man that he is infinitesimally small and God is infinitely huge, yet somehow God has invited that man into a relationship that shapes eternity. Awe is not emotional fluff. Awe is strength.
Men Were Built to Stand in Wonder
When God formed Adam, the very first thing Adam saw was the world God had just shaped. Mountains, rivers, animals, sky, and the breath of God filling his lungs. He was created into awe. Men were designed to be moved by beauty. Not in a sentimental way, but in a powerful way that drives worship. Something inside a man wakes up when he sees what God has made.
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.” (Psalm 19:1)
Creation is not just a backdrop for our lives. It is a stage where the glory of God is constantly preached. But the greatest awe does not stop at mountains and stars. The greatest awe comes when a man sees the holiness and majesty of God Himself.
Isaiah saw this in the throne room of God. He saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and lifted up, with seraphim crying out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.” (Isaiah 6:3) His response was not casual. He did not shrug and smile. He cried out, “Woe is me! For I am lost.” (Isaiah 6:5) Awe exposed his sin and humbled his heart.
Simon Peter experienced the same kind of holy shock on the Sea of Galilee. After Jesus filled his nets with fish in a miraculous catch, Peter dropped to his knees and said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” (Luke 5:8) The miracle was not about fish. It was about the majesty of Christ. Peter suddenly saw who was standing in the boat with him.
This should be the default posture of a man’s heart. Not a small view of a manageable God, but a trembling joy before a holy, majestic, sovereign Lord. When a man sees God as He truly is, awe becomes the natural response. And when awe is present, everything else in his life begins to fall into its proper place.
Awe Breaks the Illusion That You Are in Control
Many men live under a quiet pressure to have everything handled. They feel like they need to be steady, capable, and unshakeable. When life exposes their limits, they either panic or pretend. Neither brings life.
Awe is the cure. When you stand beneath a sky filled with stars that outnumber your entire lifetime of choices, you remember your place. You are not God. You do not run the universe. You do not hold the world together. The weight you carry was never yours to carry.
A godly man is not made stronger by believing he can control every outcome. He is made stronger by remembering the One who truly can.
“Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
Awe leads to stillness. Stillness leads to clarity.
Awe Revives a Man’s Heart for Worship
Worship is weak when awe is missing. You can sing lyrics on Sunday while your soul is dead inside. You can read Scripture with dry eyes because you forgot who is speaking. But when you see the power of God on display, even in simple ways, your heart begins to heat up again.
Awe turns worship from a routine into a response. A man who stands in awe does not need to be pushed to praise God. He cannot help it. A sense of wonder takes cold theology and sets it on fire.
“Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker.” (Psalm 95:6)
Awe leads naturally to bowing. Bowing leads naturally to obedience.
Awe Pulls Men Out of Sin
One of the reasons men fall into secret sin is that their world has become small. When everything is about stress at work, frustrations at home, or loneliness in the heart, sin starts to feel like relief. But awe expands a man’s world again. When God becomes big in your eyes, sin shrinks.
Awe is a powerful weapon against temptation because it reminds you who is worthy of your loyalty. It is hard to bow to lust when you have been bowing before the God who lights up galaxies with a word. It is hard to cling to anger or bitterness when you stand at the edge of an ocean that displays God’s unshakable strength and His unsearchable depth.
Awe Restores Masculine Courage
Many men feel worn down. The world has a way of grinding courage out of a man. But awe restores it. When you feel small in God’s presence, you stop feeling small in front of everything else. Awe puts fear in its proper place. The fear of God chases away the fear of man.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 9:10)
Awe does not produce cowardly men. Awe produces courageous men who stand firm because they know who stands behind them.
How Men Can Recover Awe
Awe will not return to your life by accident. You must seek it. Here are a few ways to start:
- Step outside at night and intentionally look up.
- Walk through a forest or by the water without your phone.
- Read a passage of Scripture slowly, asking God to show you His greatness.
- Meditate on scenes like Isaiah in the throne room or Peter at Jesus’ feet. Do you get a sense of God’s holiness and all-powerful uniqueness as they did?
- Listen to powerful worship music that lifts your eyes to the majesty of God.
- Spend time with brothers who stir up your faith instead of draining it.
These simple choices can change how a man sees the world.
A Final Word to the Men
Brother, you do not need more noise. You do not need more entertainment. You do not need more empty motivation. You need awe. You need the kind of awe that drives a man to his knees and raises him back up with fire in his bones. You need to behold the glory of God again.
Ask Him to restore wonder to your heart. Step into creation and remember who your Father is. Open the Scriptures and see the power behind every sentence. Let worship lift your eyes to the One who holds all things together.
The world does not need distracted men or exhausted men. It needs men who have seen God and cannot help but live differently.
Go seek awe again. Your soul will rise with it.
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