Imagine

     Have you ever read scripture and dismissed a story as if it didn't pertain to you?  After all, you're not Moses, or David, or Paul, or (insert other names here).  So this must not apply to me because I could never be that holy or do what he/she did.  I think that sometimes we forget that the people in the Bible were real people just like you or I.  We read the story and move on thinking that all we read is all there is.  We don't consider the backstory or how long it may have taken the person to arrive at their decision. Perhaps we fail to consider that they had feelings and emotions, doubts and fears.  

Enter Holy Imagination

    What if we picked out a story in the Bible, asked Holy Spirit to help us imagine as we read, and then pictured ourselves in that story?  We could ask questions like: What would I do in that situation, What character do I most relate to when I read this, How does this story impact my emotions and my senses?  This way of reading the Bible is not new or made up by me (Google St. Ignatius of Loyola).  But I share this because this way of praying and meditating on the Word was very transformative to my time with God. 

    Just this morning I was reading the account of Paul and Silas being wrongfully beaten and jailed, essentially for setting a girl free from a demon, in Acts 16.  

“Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening.” Acts 16:25

    Let's remember it was midnight and then use our imagination to see that they might not have gotten to Acts 16:25 right away. Imagine it was a journey from hopelessness to hope.

Paul and Silas were just wrongfully accused, beaten severely, and drug into a dungeon. They were suffering in chains, probably without food and water, their wounds fresh and throbbing. Surely their bodies ached.

I am willing to believe that at least one of them felt their situation was hopeless. I imagine one of them going on and on...moaning, crying, maybe even freaking out and muttering, "How in the world are we going to make it through this?"

And then there's the other guy. He wants to join the pity party. His friend is right because their situation looks pretty bleak, and every bone in his body hurts. But he doesn't say this, instead, he says, "I don't know. I guess we should pray."

"Pray! How's that going to help?"

"You've got a better idea?"

" No, you're right. I have no idea what to do. This is hopeless God!"

Then one of them starts humming a familiar tune, which turns into a hymn with words that begin the process of calming their frantic souls.  Soon they believe the songs they are singing, the words penetrating their hearts, minds, and souls.

They begin to utter prayers, declaring who God is and who He has been to them. Suddenly their faith is bolstered! They no longer see just their immediate situation, but who God is and what he can do!

Their prayers shift from praise and they begin to take authority over their situation in Jesus name. They speak to the fear in the room and tell it to go.

Then it happens. They declare He is a chain breaker, that these shackles have no hold on them because God's plan cannot be stopped. And what they declare in the Spirit happens in the natural.

The ground shakes, the prison rocks, and the chains fall off!

    Reading this story like this builds my faith. It brings to mind a quote I keep on my dresser as a reminder to me that my life goes better when I pray. It says, "You can do more than pray after you've prayed. But you can't do more than pray until you've prayed."

This story speaks to my heart so much.

Paul and Silas prayed (whether right away as Holy men of God, or perhaps, as weak humans who recognized they were in a hopeless situation out of their control). And God moved!