If I asked you right now to use your imagination you may think that is something only kids do. We are trained that imagination is childish, therefore many creatives put a cap on their creativity early on in life. In other words, we associate imagination with fantasy. God gave us minds for a reason! He gave us the ability to think, to dream, to see that which can’t be seen, and to imagine. Imagination is part of God’s plan for creativity.
I envision Adam in the Garden of Eden thinking to himself, “I think I’ll call that a zebra.” Can you picture God responding, “I’m sorry, I didn’t want you to use your imagination!” God encouraged creativity then and still does now. Imagination also ties into faith. Faith is seeing that which can’t be seen. What if God is wanting to use your simple imagination to stir dreams and vision inside of you?
1 Corinthians 2:16 “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Kingdom imagination sees past present circumstances. It can see possibility in the midst of obstacles, and lives in hope through despair. Kingdom imagination relies on the vast resources of God and speaks boldly of future reality as if it were the present. Kingdom imagination is not arrogant but bold—bold enough to speak openly about things that haven't happened yet.
My wife will tell me that I can walk into a dark alley and have vision for it. Where does that vision come from? It comes from the ability to see. I can easily envision a dark alley turned into a cool, vibey neighborhood strung with lights, resounding with music, and people talking and enjoying games. Why? I can see it!
I often think of King David. When it was time to create the temple worship band he looked around and did not see any instruments that could make the sounds that he heard. What did he do? He created them. What amazes me is this is Old Testament times. Brian Barcelona said, “religion looks at the past and what’s to come in the future, but can never recognize what God is doing now.”
When someone dares to introduce something fresh that the Holy Spirit is doing, strong opposition will present itself, especially from those who experienced a previous move of the Holy Spirit. We live in a time where the presence of God doesn’t just surround us but lives within us. David introduced something that was born of the Spirit and moved simultaneously with a new wineskin.
It’s startling to realize that we’re the only creatures who have been given the gift of imagination. With it, God has given us the capacity to visualize things that aren’t present. That’s why I can ask you what the sound of the ocean sounds like, or what the color of fall looks like, and you can envision something that is not present.
We use our imagination all the time, because whether we’re scientists, artists, or accountants, imagination is how we see, hear, taste, and smell things that make up our concrete reality, even when they are nowhere near us.
Although our Savior is the same yesterday, today and forever, our understanding of God and the worship we offer to Him is changing. The church traditionally has ostracized anyone that had a different creative flare. I was in Johnny Cash Room at the Ryman Auditorium a few years back. There was a picture of Cash and Elvis together, both church boys who were not embraced by the church because they were too forward thinking. Can you imagine the response the church would have had to King David?
When is the last time you woke up and went about your day with the awareness of deity living inside of you? Religious people need to understand that when God said in Isaiah 43:19, 'Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it?', He wasn't talking about a one-time event. God was describing His eternal mode of continually doing new things in the earth for His own glory.
All the “new stuff” doesn't go to the world first. It goes to God's people first, but too often we reject it because it is different. The business ideas, sounds in music, administrative resources (the list go on and on), should be coming forth from the Church. The world should be looking at the Josephs of the Church and giving them leadership positions within government.
My Bible says, "Every good...and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning" James 1:17.
We need to pray that God will show us how to recover that which has been distorted by the devil and that He will show us how to advance ahead of the world. David awakened his world with such a phenomenal depth and scope of praise and worship that it literally physically extended the borders of the kingdom of God!