More than We can Imagine

               About twice weekly my husband and I go to Eastern Illinois University’s Fitness Center to use treadmills and weight machines.  The “ghost town” of summer is now filled with student activity.  Recently, I watched volleyball games through the opening inside the walking track to the floor below.  Thinking back to high school, I remembered playing volleyball, basketball, field hockey and tennis.  Now, needing assistance just to walk, it is hard to imagine even playing volleyball again.

            Almost immediately, God brought to mind a favorite scripture translation that I don’t normally prefer.  In my New King James Bible, Ephesians 3:19,20 reads: “Now to Him  who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus . . .”  The New International Version substitutes “imagine” for “think,” saying:  “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine . . . “ This translation became more real to me as I thought about my athletic past, now seeming impossible.

            How often are we limited by our inability to imagine, let alone believe, God could help with something that seems almost impossible in our human minds.  But that is just the problem.  We can’t believe God for the healings, conversions, reconciliations, etc., because we can’t imagine these things happening.  We are overwhelmed with what our senses, reasoning and fears tell us.  Biblical characters were not immune to doubt.  When the men (angels) told Abraham Sarah would have a son, “Sarah laughed within herself, saying, ‘After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure . . . ‘"(Gen.18:10,12).  God, Himself, has his say telling Abraham, “ Is anything too hard for the Lord?”  (18:14).  I suspect He would say the same thing to us when we doubt His ability or even His will to do something that doctors, lawyers, counselors and mere words can’t do.

            But God’s words aren’t the same as ours.  The Bible tells us its words brought to life by the Spirit are “living and powerful” (Heb. 4:12) and “given by inspiration of God” (11 Tim. 3:16).  They can be part of how God delivers the gift of faith when we seek Him, perhaps asking questions or seeking His will instead of buying into the sayings and phrases we pass around to bring understanding.

               God is sovereign, all knowing and all powerful, but He has given us free will and our choices can affect how our days of ease or ones of crises go.  People frequently say, “God is in control.” The Bible, however, illustrates and says just the opposite.  “And we know that we are children of God and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one” are an apostle’s words (1 John 5:19 NIV).

            Looking to Jesus, seeking God’s wisdom in His word, growing in our faith and expectation of ”more than we can ask or imagine,” perhaps still can produce the signs and wonders of Jesus and the church He empowered on Pentecost.