In two weeks, Lord willing, I will be presenting at the Church of the Brethren Church Planters Conference. I was asked to speak on a favorite topic of mine, Imagination. I love to speak on imagination because it is at the core of everything creative. Let’s face it, every great thing ever created started out in someone’s imagination. Before anything is created, it must first be imagined. And of course the best things imagined come from the imagination of God.
As I was considering how to bring this message, I was taken back to Romans 4:17 “As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.” This is referring to an interaction between Abraham and God. Abraham is old, over 80 and childless when God comes to him and tells him that his 70 year old wife is going to bear him a son. This seems impossible in itself, but we should also consider that it took ten more years to come to fruition. It is before all this happens that God tells Abraham (actually Abram at this point) that he will be the father of many nations. Childless at 80 and will be a father of nations. It’s impossible and yet we can see that nation today. God calls into being things that were not. And he still does.
So what should be our response to our great God as He calls forth the seemingly impossible in our lives? Well let’s consider what Scripture says about Abraham. James 2:23 says “”And Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God.” What if the only thing separating us from God’s will for our lives is a lack of belief. It’s this simple really. God is still God. He is still in the business of calling into being things that are not and He is still working in the lives of people who will believe. The question then is will you believe and follow.
I can’t speak for you, but I want to be a friend of God. I want to live out His will for my life. This means when He puts something into my life that fires my imagination, I want to go. I want to do it. It might seem impossible, but I learned a long time ago that God is really good at chains of events. What I need to be good at is faithfulness. Taking the first step and trusting Him with each one thereafter. This imagination we have is a divine spark. It is very likely God moving us into His will. We need to discern, we need to pray. We need to make sure it’s not just my imagination, and then we need to move. Oh and by the way, if it is just my imagination, if my heart is on doing His will, He will steer and move and correct. He will keep me on course.
The best side of my imagination comes from God. Yours too, so trust Him and act.
AMOKArts 
[…] I have the opportunity to speak at a church conference in a little over two weeks on the topic of imagination. I can’t wait. (If you’re interested in reading more about what I’m doing, you can see that here.) […]
Great food for thought. How many times has my lack of belief thwarted the work of God in my life- too many times. Thank you for the reminder of Abraham. In this instant gratification world, I forget God has his own timetable and he doesn’t feel the pressure to rush his creations! Also, thank you for the reminder of the importance of imagination. I hope the conference is an encouragement to the attendees and to you!
Thanks Melissa, I just posted some very rough sketches of what I am planning on painting at the conference. You should see them at AMOKArts tomorrow.
[…] few days ago I posted a challenge on my other blog (AMOKArts.com) on the subject of imagination. The general idea is I have been tasked with presenting at a church planting conference on the topic […]
[…] few days ago I posted a post on imagination along with a creative challenge. Well yesterday I worked up a few sketch paintings for the presentation I am thinking of doing in my […]