When I was a kid, I learned very quickly to never tell my mom that I was bored. I grew up in a time when boredom was the fastest way to a list of chores. My mom and dad would always tell us to use our imaginations and go make something. Imagination, or the exercise of creating in our mind, is a beautiful thing. It’s my imagination that planted the seeds for my love of writing. Even now, it’s my imagination that helps me to make dinner when I don’t have all of the right ingredients, but I can think up a new and different way to make a dish.
How has your imagination helped you? Think back to March 2020. At the beginning of the month you were imagining the normal thoughts associated with the beginning of spring whether it was imagining your new flower beds, spring cleaning your home or imagining your summer vacation. Then, by the end of March and the start of stay at home, your imagination saved the day! You began thinking creatively of all the ways to pass the time while staying at home. Back then, my Facebook news feed exploded with pictures of new crafts, hobbies, sourdough bread and video content.
I’m not sure if animals have imaginations, but it seems like the ability to create in our minds is a gift that God gave to us as humans.
But, we’ve got to remember that our imaginations need Jesus.
Last Thursday morning we woke up to the news that that Russia had invaded Ukraine. How many of your imaginations fired up and began creating awful mental movies of how this event overseas was going to hurt you or destroy your lives? If you’ve done my Joshua Bible study or Winning the Worry Battle book, I call those awful mental movies “WorryFlix.” Like Netflix or any other streaming media, WorryFlix can play endlessly. While we may struggle to find the time for prayer or Bible study, our minds seem to have no problems whatsoever finding time to create WorryFlix. Our imaginations can take what we see on the news or social media and generate a storyline where our safety as well as our hopes and dreams are stripped away.
Take a moment and think about your thinking:
After you watch a WorryFlix episodes in imagination, do you tend to experience more anxiety, depression, hopelessness and distraction in your actual life?
Here’s an important question: During your WorryFlix episodes or anytime that you’re imagining the future, how does Jesus show up in your imagination?
Years ago, I experienced an aha moment, a profound spiritual breakthrough. You see, I thought that I had a lifetime subscription to WorryFlix. I could take any real event and create an Oscar-award winning nightmare in my mind that would leave me crying real tears and struggling with awful anxiety. Then one day, I reflected on my imagination movies and realized that that my WorryFlix episodes NEVER included Jesus’ presence or factored in God’s promises.
This is when I realized that my imagination NEEDED Jesus!
Here’s the thing, our imaginations are like two-year-old toddlers without a diaper. They want to run free and don’t want to be under the authority of anyone or anything. But our imaginations are not in charge of us. God is. So, you and I need to snatch up our imaginations and drag them to Jesus just like 2 Corinthians 10:5 says:
We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ, (2 Corinthians 10:5 AMP).
This means that when our minds start imagining scenarios that don’t align with the truth of God, WE are responsible for saying, “No. Stop. If Jesus isn’t a part of this scenario, then what my mind is creating is a lie and every lie must die in Jesus’ name!”
My sweet friend, we need to do this now more than ever. We don’t know the outcome of what will happen in the days ahead. I don’t want your imagination to feed you lies that God never intended for you to base your life upon. God’s promises and truth MUST fill and feed your heart, body, soul AND mind!
I’D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU: Was this devotional helpful? If so, I’d love for you to tell me about it! Also, if this was helpful, you can send this to your friends. Look, it’s not a sin to be afraid of what’s happening in our world, BUT God does not want us to live in fear.
Audiobook available March 15, 2022.
NOW AVAILABLE ON AUDIOBOOK!
Have you ever tried to fight worry with faith and felt you were losing the battle? Have comments like “God’s got this!” or “Just pray about it” left you feeling more burdened? We know we shouldn’t worry, but the reality is that we all do at times.
Barb’s Winning the Worry Battle, combines her personal stories of confronting her worry and anxiety as well as fresh Biblical insights as you reflect on Joshua and the Israelites journey into the Promised Land. You’ll position yourself to experience God’s victory over your worry battle by learning how to apply God’s promises with Barb’s scripture-based practical tools.
