I’ve come to the conclusion that you should have an absolutely AWEFUL day today! I’m serious! I hope you have an AWEFUL day!

I want to be clear about what I am proposing. The aweful I’m talking about is spelled AWEFUL as in AWESOME! I want you to have awe-filled days the rest of your life. Here’s an interesting story to illustrate the awesomeness of going from AWFUL to AWEFUL.

Lightning struck a large tree up ahead of them and sent the splintered tree across the rain-soaked road. The heavy rain was falling like liquid bullets. As the driver slowed to a stop, trying to figure out what to do, another lightening strike struck a tree behind the SUV and sent the tree across the road, trapping the driver and his very, very, very pregnant wife on Rt. 54.

His wife’s contractions were minutes apart and he had to get her to the hospital. He got out of the truck to access the situation and instinctively ducked as another lightning strike splintered a huge pine tree nearby.

A few moments later, soaking wet, he jumped back into the SUV.

“Honey, we’re trapped. There’s ditches on each side of the road and the trees are so huge they’re blocking the road in both directions.”

“Thank God they didn’t ” she stopped as one of her contractions hit, “fall on us!” she gasped.

“I’ve got to get you to the hospital,” her worried husband announced.

Suddenly a pickup truck pulled up. The driver saw their dilemma, told them to stay in the SUV, and told them what he was going to do. In a few minutes he had the tree ahead of them cut into enough pieces to clear the way for them.

He refused any payment. He said he was going to stay long enough to move the other tree out of the road too. Then he gave the couple a tattered business card sized note.

Weathered and creased with age, the inscription on its face, dulled by the touch of many fingers read:

You’ve been helped in some way today by a Good Samaritan.

In lieu of payment, please pass on the favor to someone else

The couple looked at each other and smiled their appreciation – and their surprise. Their old web address was on the back of the card. They had printed 1,000’s of the cards themselves years ago after they had seen the hit movie Pay It Forward.

Their own kindness and generosity had turned what could have been an awful experience into an incredibly AWEful experience.

Two thousand years ago, Jesus the Christ travelled many a storm-tossed road Himself. He had plenty of opportunities to turn awful experiences into awesomely AWEful experiences. He raised the widow of Nain’s son, (Luke 7:11), Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:22), and Lazarus (John 11:1) from aweful experiences – they had all died! Their resurrections were all awesomely AWEful experiences.

Jesus the Christ healed lepers (Luke 17:12), a blind man (John 9:1) another blind man at Bethesaida (Mark 8:12), a blind man named Bartimaeus (Matt. 20), a deaf mute (Mark 7:32), a Roman officer’s servant (Matt. 8:5), two people with demons (Mark 5; Luke 8), a paralyzed man (Mark 2, Luke 5), a woman who touched His cloak (Matt. 9, Luke 8); and scores of other awful health conditions in His time.

The traditional Christ figure healed many types of illnesses and ailments. The Cosmic Christ, the Indwelling Christ within us, can turn awful into awesome, and trials into triumphs if we allow Spirit to work in us and through us.

Metaphysically, no matter how dulled, deadened, or comatose we become (that’s what Jairus’ daughter, the widow of Nain’s son, and Lazarus represent) we can be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. No matter how sick we are mentally, emotionally, or physically, we can be healed.

No matter how far gone you think you are, or others think you are, the Indwelling Christ can raise the deadened you, the frightened you, the weakened you to the you, you can be. By the power and might of the Christ as you, you can pray yourself, meditate yourself, see yourself, will yourself, affirm yourself, diet yourself, exercise yourself, and divinely order yourself into wholeness and happiness.

When you listen to the ’still small voice’ within you can transform your life from AWFUL to AWEFUL. Believe it! It is within your power to do it.