And we do. We distress ourselves over small and large issues over which we have little or no control in the first place. We call them "concerns" or "issues" and perhaps even "problems." If this were a class in college I would get and "A" without even breaking a sweat! This is essentially a subject where we separate out real issues versus unreal issues. Imaginings almost always are fueled by an expected bad ending (fear). And so we worry about the ending before we even enter into the problem. How should we handle imaginings? In this day and age there is an acronym for just about everything. KISS: keep it simple stupid. OMG: oh my God! WWJD: what would Jesus do? And many more. You probably have your favorite ones also. GRACE: God’s riches at Christ’s expense. That is one of my favorites and plays nicely into our subject matter. Grace isn’t just about being saved through Jesus Christ. That in and of itself is essential. How do we give grace to others and to ourselves? Perhaps a better illustration would measure the chance of success we give grace before we come to the end of our rope. From a very early age I have had these imaginings that would only later prove to be false and a waste of my time. During the time we are having imaginings; assessing whether they are worth even thinking about; we are caught in a trap. Sometimes we tell someone of our imagining and ask for their wisdom. Sometimes we journal about the potential event. Yet at other times we are so hyper focused that we can see nothing but the fear we have at that moment.
My very first imagining that I distressed myself over was a fear that a black cat in the basement would attack me if I were to go down there. The dilemma took on added distress as I was sometimes asked to get an item out of the basement. It was bad enough during the daytime but was really bad at nighttime. Eventually I did grow out of that fear but the memory remains. You see, even at an early age we develop imaginings. Sometimes they are the result of a story being told that brings nightmares. Then there are books we read that have imaginings as their only theme. Today we have television that sparks imaginings. Let’s not forget Halloween! Manufactured imaginings celebrated throughout the United States as well as in some other countries. We have plenty of fodder for the fire when it comes to imaginings. We are encouraged to not be distressed with imaginings. Sometimes these imaginings have a very real nature to them. Take the steel worker who goes to work on the 66th floor of a building. While he is gone the television alerts the wife to another industrial accident at a construction site. With little to go on her imagination may go to work building a WCS (worst case scenario). Fear begets more fear. The steel worker isn’t able to or doesn’t make the opportunity to call his wife and reassure her that everything is okay. Why? Because it wasn’t at his worksite. And so the imagining continues until that evening when he is back home. She is so overcome with gratitude that he came home that she overlooks the little things that bothered her just this morning.
Everyone will agree that wars are terrible. Sometimes justified and sometimes not. However, all wars are terrible. Even if there is confidence that the war will soon be over the imaginings do not have that assurance. When my oldest brother went to Viet Nam my mom began to worry a lot! Her imaginings were huge! Every night she and my dad would watch the news looking over the list of soldiers who had died that day or week. Although my mom would go about life, the apprehension of these imaginings would continually rest upon her for that year he was in Viet Nam. Letter writing and care packages consumed much of her time. Waiting for letters was nerve wracking. I don’t believe she slept well during that year but she probably aged 5 or 6 years. So, in this situation, we say we understand and believe the worries, concerns or imaginings are appropriate and even allowed to be said out loud. I don’t remember worrying much about Chuck being in a war zone. I can’t say why exactly but I don’t remember many of my imaginings. Perhaps because my mother’s imaginings were so present every day. To a degree during that year it felt like she was so hyper focused that we weren’t in her world. He did come home alive for which we were all grateful. During this year we were (as a family and nation) a bit more gracious to those who had relatives over in the war. This is a good thing.
I’d like to revisit a concept I introduced some chapters ago. Imaginings usually are fear based. We have two fears we are born with (falling and loud noises) with the rest of the fears we have in our life being learned from those who taught us to fear. That may have been parents, friends (some friends!), or even the media. The fears were taught and here we are. An argument has been made that dominant memory of fear induced issues can be passed on through our genes. These particular fears may never be visible in a person’s life but the impact on the subconscious is there none the less. Using this background we should try to understand the source of our fear. This is the time we can subject ourselves to healing. Please don’t use the energy to blame someone for what has or has not been done. Just do better yourself. So, whether consciously or not, intentionally or not and modeled or not; the fears are there. They bring about imaginings in direct relationship to the degree the fear has consumed you and I. What can fight these fears?
The love of God always endures forever. We are told in the Bible that perfect love casts out fear. I believe that. First because I believe the Bible and secondly because God has worked that miracle in my life. Are you ready for another acronym? FROG: fully rely on God. There you have it. This doesn’t suggest we do or say foolish things. I don’t really care how much you trust that bungee cord I am still not going to jump off a bridge for the thrill. The same goes for roller coasters and Ferris wheels. These are fears that are common to mankind. This doesn’t justify their existence in my life or your life. I’m just stating a fact that some fears cause us to make good decisions. There is a platform at the Grand Canyon you can walk out on. It’s suspended by leverage where the platform is anchored on solid ground. The u-shaped platform brings you out over the canyon and the view is breath taking. One problem. The bottom of the platform is clear or transparent. Fear of heights prohibits me from going out there just about as seriously as bungee jumping. We won’t even mention my distaste of spiders in any environment. My list could cover much of this chapter. However, redundancy would be the key word. The event that makes my fear rise to the surface is lack of confidence in God. Granted God wouldn’t tell me to do something irresponsible. He may ask me to go outside my comfort zone to tell someone about Jesus. He may even ask me to stop and help a stranger. God is a loving protective Father who cares about me. Because of this, the Bible says, he makes a way out when we feel trapped or backed in a corner or just plain scared of the imaginings. God also provides the Holy Spirit to guide us through all things in life. Hearing the Holy Spirit requires regular communication and the ability to recognize God’s voice and to listen to what he is telling us to do or not do. He may tell me that my fear level is too high and I should not bungee jump. You see, he always protects and always endures as a way of loving me. People who love me don’t ask me to go on a roller coaster with them. They know that the anxiety would be so high that my health may be compromised. In short, God asks us to be wise and honest with ourselves.
Being in harm’s way, like my brother Chuck, is sometimes necessary in order to do our job. For me, that was true during my years as a police officer in a large city. Every night I would get dressed in the locker room and when I stood before the full length mirror I would tell myself that I was going home at the end of my shift. I prepared myself mentally in order to gird myself with a focus that would keep me alive and uninjured. And God was faithful. I went home at the end of every shift up till my retirement. Were there moments when the onslaught was high? Yes, of course. How could I be on the streets engaging the people, elements and crime without there being increased imaginings? I couldn’t. Shadows were threats as were dark hallways or back yards. Not knowing was the greatest threat I faced. Not being able to see the threat before it was upon me was present all the time. Also present were the facts. Like the fact that God said he would never leave me or forsake me. Like the fact that I was trained and had better insight into what I would find on a call. Like the fact that I wore a bullet proof vest and had other safety equipment to help me stay alive. Like the fact that I had a lot of people praying for me. You see, I was never alone as God’s love was always enduring through the prayers uttered by those who believed.
We only have ourselves to blame. We host any number of imaginings and pass them on generation to generation. The Easter Bunny and other fictional characters from our youth moved us from innocent to infected. Harsh words? How about things that are fear and terror producing like Halloween? Then of course there is Christmas. The song is innocent enough but still rings badly in my head. Santa Clause is Coming to Town has been around for many years. When I am reminded as a child that "you better be good" or else, I begin to wonder if I am good enough. Maybe this year will be the year that I get what I deserve if I cry. Then we have the intrusive elves who work for Santa Clause and report our pouting. Santa Clause is, in the song, all knowing, all seeing and all powerful over presents. Mental manipulation carries us to that place where we have great anticipation filled with imaginings. Dressing up at Halloween we go about the neighborhoods dressed in scary and non-scary outfits with the implication that if you don’t give me candy I’ll repay with a trick. By now you’re probably thinking no holiday is good for your kids and mine. Maybe that’s the truth? The greater question is: "What would Jesus want you to do in representing him to the world?" Jesus is NOT an imagining. Jesus is love brought to earth from heaven for you and me. His love for us endures through all of our imaginings. When everything else is stripped from our lives; Jesus alone remains. Steadfast and patient.
It’s bad enough that Satan is the god of this world and that his demons go about the earth tormenting Christians. This is reality. What we add in the way of our imaginations is another layer of evil we keep in our lives. We rationalize and justify our belief systems external to the core Christian belief. In the end we are choosing that which God doesn’t want and pushing aside what God does want. Here is a critical point for us to be aware of. The distress we put upon ourselves with our imaginings keeps us from the love that endures. Just another ploy (and successful) Satan uses to drive a wedge between God and his people.
It’s important that we acknowledge that good and evil cannot occupy the same place. So, then people, even God’s people. When we put in place the imaginings we are disconnected from God. We have so many distractions in our world. Most have been imbedded from well-intentioned adults who read a non-Christian book, watched a secular movie, told scary stories or continued on a belief that imaginings are real. You might be agreeing with me right now and wondering how such a big distraction can be stopped. Think about this for a moment. We lie to our kids and then tell them that lying is a sin. We foster magical thinking and then later take our kids to therapists for magical thinking. Hitting home yet? The tooth fairy brings money. The Easter bunny brings candy. Santa Clause comes down a chimney and puts presents in our socks hung from the mantel. By the way, we also celebrate Christian perspective of holidays. Now we have given our kids two worlds they can live in. But then, we are doing the same. And we say that this behavior is "innocent fun" while it’s not. If that is true, show me in the Bible where these examples are from God and that God is okay with them. You won’t find any such supporting Scripture. Anything that tears down the fabric of the Gospel is a sin. Should you do a historical examination of all the distractions and imaginings found in history; you will not find that God is not the author of a single one.
Let’s take this discussion one step further. Wherever God is foremost in our life, Satan and his demons cannot be. Wherever Satan is foremost (even if we don’t acknowledge that fact), you won’t find God. You cannot serve two masters. Choose this day whether you will choose God or Satan. Those are the only choices and this is not a true or false test. Think about this for a moment. We tell our children that Santa Claus is real and then turn around and tell our children that God is real. We tell our children there is nothing wrong with "innocent" fun as they dress up as devils and goblins while telling our kids in Sunday school that those same entities are bad. We encourage our kids to look for rewards brought about by the threat "trick or treat?" and then ask them to believe that God is only love and will never trick but treat well those who follow Him. So, what is it? What choice do you make? Do we want to live our fantasy lives filled with imaginings that distress and distract us? Or, do you want to be an individual or family that lives out the Christian life. There are no distractions or imaginings in the Christian life. Why? Because God’s Word says so.
We have caused generations to believe in the fake while ignoring the real. You and I have done this. Is this the legacy we want to leave with the generations to come? The world has become primary and God has second place if he has a place in our lives at all. We don’t teach our kids that if they don’t know Jesus as Savior they will spend eternity in hell. If your kids haven’t asked Jesus into their lives and you are a Christian; you are at fault. We live in a world where Christians (real Christians) have blurred the truth for so long that we ignore that same truth in the Bible. The interpretations we give events in our lives flow from imaginings. Instead of confidence we pass on indifference and ignorance. We don’t tell ourselves that what we believe is the truth because we, rationalizing and justifying, want to think issues in our lives and choices in our lives are okay to God.
While ministering here on earth, Jesus said there are two commandments. The first was to love the Lord God with all that you have within you. The second was like it in that we were to love our fellow man the same way. It’s these two commandments that are at the center of what we do in life. Should we be brave enough to claim that we are Christian, then we must love the Lord God with "everything within us." The first ramification of this belief is that if "all" that is within me, the love that God gives through me is enduring forever. So, if we are "full" of the love of God, there is no room for any contrary beliefs. The opposite is also true. The more we keep tight hold on things of the world, the less we will be able to receive, keep and pass on the love of God. If we are full of God, there is no room for anything or anyone else. Secondly, we are called to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. If we are loving ourselves with the love of God, then we are able to pass on the love of God to our neighbors. Contrary to this; if we have the love of the world within and directing our love toward our fellow man, then the love of God is not there, diminished, or passed on. You make the choice. It’s not hard. You choose to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind or you don’t. You choose to love your neighbor as you love yourself or you don’t.
This is so simple that it really doesn’t need an argument. Ask you self, "Why did I give my life to Christ?" Or, maybe, the first questions should be "Did I really give my life to Christ?" It’s an important question. Maybe even the most important question to have answered in our lives. Have I given my life to Jesus? Imaginings are complex and pose problems. Yet we teach them as "innocent fun." They are not that at all. Either Jesus is real or he is not. If he is real there should be no room for anything but him. You pack the suitcase. Take what is real. Take Jesus and nothing else. That is what Jesus told his disciples to do. Do likewise.
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