Is Your Hope in God Faint and Dying?
3 You will keep in perfect peace
those whose minds are steadfast,
Isaiah 26:3 ESV
Is your imagination stayed on God or is it starved? The starvation of the imagination is one of the most fruitful sources of exhaustion and sapping in a worker’s life. If you have never used your imagination to put yourself before God, begin to do it now. It is no use waiting for God to come; you must put your imagination away from the face of idols and look unto Him and be saved. Imagination is the greatest gift God has given us, and it ought to be devoted entirely to Him. If you have been bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, it will be one of the greatest assets to faith when the time of trial comes, because your faith and the Spirit of God will work together. Learn to associate ideas worthy of God with all that happens in Nature—the sunrises and the sunsets, the sun and the stars, the changing seasons, and your imagination will never be at the mercy of your impulses, but will always be at the service of God.
“We have sinned with our fathers . . . [and] remembered not”—then put a stiletto in the place where you have gone to sleep. “God is not talking to me just now,” but He ought to be. Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.
Chambers, Oswald (2011-05-01). My Utmost for His Highest, Classic Edition (p. 30). Discovery House Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Today's entry from Chambers is very similar to yesterday's. I have highlighted the line that stood out to me. It reminded me that we cannot be spiritually ready for trials and troubles if we wait until those times to practice spiritual disciplines. Chambers points out that it is our spiritual habits that prepare us for those inevitable challenges in life.
It is interesting that in many areas of our lives we practice preparation. Driving range before match play. 401K before retirement. Lesson plan before the bell. Yet when it comes to our spiritual disciplines, we often wait until sickness, divorce, or depression before we get serious about our daily walk with God.
God has assured us there will be times of trouble.
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
James 1:2 ESV (italics mine)
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. John 16:33 ESV
If we wait until those times arrive to draw near to Him, we are at a tremendous disadvantage. Pray before problems. Meditate before misfortune. Only then can we say with confidence, "when the time of trial comes, your faith and the Spirit of God will work together."
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