“Lord, why would You give me an imagination, and then instruct me not to worry?” Our creative gift of imagination is one of the clearest ways we reflect the image of our Creator. When we submit our imaginations to the cleansing and redemptive work of God, it fuels our vision and hope that comes to life as we walk in faithfulness to His Master Plan.
The unredeemed imagination has just the opposite effect. Because we are a fallen humanity, our imagination is not surrendered to God and it becomes an engine of self-will and fear. As a result, we are driven away from the best that our Savior has planned. Our desires are continually evil, which makes it almost impossible for us to find victory today and every day with the anxieties we face.
The blessings and benefits of being a true follower of Jesus Christ are immeasurable, but the pressure is relentless. How we deal with those pressures determine both the effectiveness and longevity of service for the Lord and how well we face the unknowns that are with us constantly.
Continually reminding ourselves of Who We Are and Whose We Are will provide us a critical discipline. Inside us is the creative self-reminder of God’s promises that energize us and enable us to stay joyfully in the game of life. It is the deployment of the redeemed imagination that extends the horizon of hope in the supernatural ability we have been given.
We have a natural tendency to look at our current circumstances and project them on the future, especially when we feel frustrated. This erodes the inner sense of God’s presence. He wants us to plan for the future, but more importantly he wants us to trust Him for the today!
God gives grace for “what is” and not grace for the “what ifs”. His grace is abundant in real-time challenges. We choose to imagine possible futures that feed either fear and insecurity or a false sense of control, but neither will bring us to the peace of God.
We could spend most of our time wondering and worrying about what the future holds, but when we have walked with the Lord for decades, we realize God’s grace has always been constant and sufficient upon which we can count.
The redeemed imagination is not merely a gift. We must cultivate it in partnership with the Lord. It is a contact sport that involves actively rejecting the temptation to predict futures apart from the providential hand of God. It is the posture of a servant, to living out the conviction that obedience is not a pathway but the point of our lives. We make obedience to God’s plan our daily directive!
Enduring confidence across the seasonal contours of life is not possible without daily grace. God will provide us with all the grace necessary for what is ahead!
