My daughter is hooked on unicorns. She plays with them. She draws them. She wears them. She even pretends to preach about them. When she sees something new or exciting she often asks, “Can I have that with unicorns on it?” (And if you think that’s cute you ought to hear her try to pronounce Pegasus!) Something about the mythical horses with horns on their heads has grabbed hold of her imagination.
Imagination is something that we often expect and appreciate in children. But there comes a point in our growing up when we tend to classify imagination as childish and we stop indulging our minds in that way.
I ran into the word imagine in scripture the other day, and it seemed that perhaps we have made a mistake when we got too mature to imagine.
Ephesians 3:20-21 says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
That is the end of chapter three. It is subtitled “A Prayer for the Ephesians.” One translation subtitles it “A Prayer for Spiritual Growth.” Spiritual growth is something that adults want and need!
The first part of Ephesians chapter three is subtitled “God’s Mysterious Plan Revealed.” That does not sound like kid stuff. That sounds like something that millions or even billions of adults would like to know today.
So back to our imaginations… Paul wrote that God is able to do immeasurably more than we can ever ask or IMAGINE. And he says that God does it through the power that is already at work within us. That means that the power that God has flowing through our veins today is capable of doing more than we can imagine!
I often point to the fact that creation is in God’s nature. He is the Creator. And that isn’t a job that took seven days then ended. God is still the Creator. He is still creating things all around us. He is also creating things in us and through us!
You and I have been blessed with minds capable of solving problems, and inventing new ideas and dreams! God has promised to inhabit our imaginations with supernatural power! If it were up to my daughter she would use that power to make every horse a unicorn. But for most adults we choose to let that power lie dormant within us. We have gotten out of the habit of imagining.
My mind tells me that unicorns aren’t going to happen. But Scripture tells us about flying horses in both the Old and New Testament (2 Kings 2:11, Revelation 19:11)!
Think about all of the technology we hold in just our cell phones. We can talk to people anywhere on earth, we can send notes and letter (emails and texts), we can read any book via the internet, we can watch church services via livestreams, and so much more.
The imaginations of people have been the seeds of every great advancement in humanity and in ministry. Don’t let yours lie dormant. Don’t let God’s power in you go to waste.
Jeremy Alger is the pastor of the New Cumberland Church of the Nazarene. They meet in person and online every Sunday. For more information please visit www.newcumberlandnazarene.com