“Your imagination can play tricks on you.”

“Your imagination is running a wild.”

 

These are just a couple of statements that I have heard along the way while I was growing up. These statements and many others try to explain how the imagination can and sometimes does work. Man, do they seem to hold true and without the relational environments that I am in I’m not sure where I would have ended up.

I have spent the last several months in physical pain. I have been to multiple doctors and had multiple tests performed with no answers given. As I write this, I am still fighting for answers and searching for the doctor/treatment that is going to help get me on the road to recovery.

After all of this time and effort, my imagination has fully kicked in. I have spent countless hours wondering if what I had was “this sickness” or is “that issue”? I’ll be honest, it has led me down some pretty dark roads. I have even imagined that I was going to die from this.

It honestly doesn’t take me long to get to that place with my imagination. Not only does it not take long to get to those places, but I can completely believe that what my imagination is thinking is the TRUTH! How crazy is that! Even crazier, is the fact that my imagination will also convince me that God doesn’t care and that He isn’t hearing me or caring for me!

Let me tell you from my experience, it is easy to let my imagination take control. It is far harder to hold my imagination in check. I know the verses in the Bible that tell me to “trust in the Lord with all my hear and lean not on my own understanding” and “don’t be anxious about anything” but unless I physically stop my imagination and focus on the Lord it will continue to rule my thoughts.

You know what has consistently been true? I don’t do well with this when I am trying to do it by myself. It takes those around me to help listen, encourage and sometimes guide me back to what is true. This is just one of the reasons why creating relational environments is so important. As I am “doing life” in these environments with other believers not only are they able to hear and know where I am at, but they also help point me back to what is true. What is true in my life and what is true in God’s Word.

As a pastor, I have to realize that, just like me, there are so many people right around me that are struggling with their imaginations as well. The opportunities that come from being in a relational environment to be asked the question: “What is true?” and/or “What does God’s word say is true?” have tremendous impact. So, as pastors and church leaders, it becomes absolutely critical to health and well-being of our church to create these environments not just for our own sake but for those that the Lord has put in our care.

by Tommy Roberson – Executive Pastor
Real Life Ministries Texas
Tomball, TX