Flex

 To flex means to bend and tighten a muscle. Most little boys, and even some older ones, stand before the bathroom mirror flexing their biceps hoping their muscles grow. When a person flexes their muscles they are tensing them. The point of this article is not about flexing muscles. As we age, muscles atrophy and weaken. 

I have a total other thought in my mind. It was a phrase I read in Mark Batterson's new book, Gradually Then Suddenly. Batterson wrote about flexing our imagination. Instead of looking at the obstacles we can flex our imagination to see the opportunities. Flexing our God inspired imagination can help us see potential, possibilities, and pathways to get there. 

The problem is that people who are overwhelmed with seemingly impossible situations do not have the energy to flex their imagination. They are focused on the hopeless situation in front of them instead of the God of hope who says nothing is too difficult for Him. Is that really true practically or is it only theory? 

Here is the question we must consider. What does God want done in our situation? If God wills something to be done, we can believe that He will make a way for that to happen. You might have to flex your imagination and think outside the box. 

Let me illustrate. Several years ago Brenda and I started a church. Our first Sunday we met in a daycare. The smell of dirty diapers mixes with cleaning solutions were pungent. On our first Sunday morning, we outgrew the daycare. We scrambled and secured the junior high school cafeteria for Sunday mornings. That space was not available to us for our Wednesday night activities. I prayed and flexed my imagination. We met with our students in the stands of the football stadium for Bible study. We got more than a few confused and amused looks when people walked on the track. We met in the stands until the weather turned too cold, and then we moved into our oldest high school gymnasium. Those things worked until we could rent facilities of our own. We eventually converted a warehouse with grease stained concrete floors into a sanctuary with enough seating for well over 200 people. The bay doors rattled when the wind blew during services. We had a/c and heat, but the place was drafty. It still worked.  II would never have considered building a stage and putting chairs in a warehouse producing a makeshift sanctuary. It worked.  never would have considered any of those options until God inspired and we flexed our imagination. 

If you are up against it, overwhelmed, filled with despair and have lost hope, I want to challenge you to do a couple of things. Take some time and get away. Batterson also talks about how changing our pace of life and changing our place can lead to some powerful God encounters. In other words, change your routine. Sit in a cafe with a journal to meet with God. Take a prayer walk. Go sit in a park. When you do that, pray with all your heart about how God wants you to handle your situation. Ask God to inspire and flex your imagination. Write down the ideas that come to you.  

Flex your imagination and consider what God can do for you. His resources are unlimited. Psalm 24:1 His power is unmatched and capable of doing anything. Jeremiah 32:17 His understanding is inscrutable. Isaiah 40:28 Go ahead and flex your imagination. You might just be surprised by the solution God gives you for your impossible situation. 

14 Times in 6 Chapters

 This morning I read in the book of Numbers. Not the most exciting Bible reading. A phrase kept coming up a total of fourteen times in six chapters. What was the phrase? "Then the LORD spoke to Moses." That struck me especially since the bulk of my prayer this morning was asking God to speak to me and listening. 

Prayer can be rushed with a list of requests without taking time to listen for what God wants to say to us. What He has to say to us is always more important than what we have to say to Him. How many really take time in prayer to listen? Some might ask how do you listen to an unseen God who rarely speaks audibly. You train your spirit to get in touch with His spirit. You must discipline the mind to be quiet before Him. I find this to be one of the most challenging aspects of listening. My mind often races like wild stallions across the prairie. Reigning in those thoughts is a battle. Satan uses his demons to plant thoughts in us to keep us distracted. The father of lies does not want us to quiet our minds to listen to God. With the weapons given us to fight these battles, we have to trust God to take our thoughts captive in obedience to Christ. [II Cor 10:3-5]

Do we really want to hear from God? He does not always speak uplifting devotional thoughts. He sometimes rebukes calling for repentance. He chastises when we are not compliant with His commands. He prophesies about future events. He calls us to assignments that require faith and courage. He guides us in decision making. He also reveals important truths that we do not know. 

My favorite part of seeking God is the listening. I never know what He might speak. This is the difference in religion and a relationship. The relationship consists of back and forth dialogue between followers and our supreme leader. There are times when God speaks something so important it changes our lives. 

He did that for me three years ago one morning reading Acts 16:9-10. Paul had a dream one night about a man from Macedonia calling him to come and help. That same passage showed up repeatedly that same week in several books I read. I knew God was speaking to me. A casual conversation over lunch days later confirmed it. I told Brenda that I sensed God was going to move us to a new church and I believed it was going to be in the Panhandle of Texas. Two years passed. One morning I received an email from pastor search committee in Fritch, TX telling me they received my resume. A friend sent my resume to them without my knowledge. I did not seek them or pursue a job with them. Based on the Acts 16:9-10 I agreed to a phone interview. For two years I believed there was a church crying out to God to send them help and that Brenda and I were the answer to that prayer. The last thing I told them during our phone interview that day was not to ever contact me again unless they were convinced I was God's man for them. I did not hear anything from them again for five months. After all that time they contacted me to inform I was their number one candidate. We had an in person interview and the rest is history. Brenda and my whole lives changed based on God speaking through one passage of scripture on a mundane morning. That is the thrill of seeking and following God. The same God who spoke to Moses also speaks to us. Are we listening? May He show us great and mighty things we do not know. Jer 33:3