Episode #315 Reclaiming Childlike Wonder: Using Imagination to See God Anew – Unforced Rhythms of Grace

Hey, friends. Today we're drawing near to God using our imaginations. As adults, oftentimes imagination is a muscle that has atrophied over time. Our imagination is often buried under adult responsibilities. And so when faith starts to feel dry or predictable or serious, my go-to is asking the Lord to give me back childlike wonder to help me see him again as he is. My God beyond understanding, who is good, beyond what I can perceive, who works in ways that I can't even notice. And imagination helps us with that childlike wonder and gives us opportunities to see God in color again, where maybe things have faded to gray or black or white. And it gives us opportunities to rediscover joy through play and creativity.

In Foster's book, the Celebration of Discipline, he's talking about one of the ways to encourage celebration. And he says it's to accent the creative gifts of fantasy and imagination. And he writes, “There was a time when visionaries were canonized, and mystics were admired. Now they are studied, smiled at, perhaps even committed. All in all, fantasy is viewed with distrust in our time.”

Now I am not, nor do I think Foster is, trying to advocate that we make up stuff about God or make up another world. But we can sit back and engage our imaginations to wonder at our God who is beyond understanding. We exist in the world he's made, and there are parts of it that humans haven't even explored yet.

We are finite beings who serve an infinite God, who squeezed himself into flesh to be born as a baby. To grow up as a perfect human living, a perfect life before God, and then sacrificing himself for us. We serve a triune God, which in itself is difficult to wrap our mind around. And we get to go through day-to-day life, moment by moment, minute even, mundane circumstances, with the Lord of Lords. The King of the Universe. Creator and Sustainer of Life God.

One of the ways I like to use my imagination as I read the Bible is by looking for God on display in those biblical stories. Yes, there are often human characters there as the biblical author is recounting a story of God's move, his active participation on behalf of Abraham or Moses or Paul or whoever. But God is also on display in that story. Where can I picture him? Where can I notice his character and care on display?

I like to imagine what it felt like for that biblical person to experience God that way. The awe they would've felt. The love they could have experienced. What it would've been like to walk with Jesus on the road as he ministered. And by engaging in my imagination that way, I step back from the very adult responsibility of what do I need to learn? And I first experience God and I get to share that moment with him. If this feels new to you, check out my captivated playbook. That's a resource that helps you do this on your own.

But then as I go through scripture with God, I then ask him to reveal to me what he wants me to take away that I can then apply. So by engaging in our imaginations, we become more aware moment by moment with awe and wonder at who our God is, who is present and active with us.

It really is a childlike response to say, God, I am your kid. I am your child. You are my Good Father. How can I experience life with you today?

In Matthew 18:3, Jesus exhorts us and he says, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

I also like to engage my imagination in corporate worship. I wonder at how God receives this worship. The Bible talks about it as a fragrant offering coming up to him. I wonder what it smells like to the Lord at how it delights him.

I engage my imagination as I'm asking the Lord to show up tangibly in the lives of people that I love and I pray for. And I wonder at how he's going to do that, at what his answers to this prayer will look like for them.

There are so many ways that we can marvel and wonder at God with a childlike anticipation that he wants to reveal himself to us, because he does.

And so here's a question that we can each take to God today, asking him to help us engage in this childlike response to him as our Good Father.

God, how can I engage my imagination to see you in fresh ways?

I'm excited for what he'll share with you and what you'll get to experience with him.

Have a good talk.

And if you've been encouraged by this content, please share it with a friend and help them grow in their conversational relationship with God too!

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