Imagine That!

One of my favorite things is a good story.  I love to write or tell them, and I love to read or hear them.  I believe I get that from my dad.  I can tell a story at any time about nearly anything, especially if you are in the mood for fiction, true stories I have to work harder to get right or interesting.  So, I have an imagination that is very fertile and flexible.

I read an account of God's description in Hebrew poetry, and I sense that my ability to imagine may be woefully inadequate.  Poetry, but its nature, is very figurative.  The imagery and figures used require an immense amount of imagination to capture truths even approaching the magnitude of the Person responsible for this universe.  So when I read that God calls the stars by name, and makes sure none of them are missing by His great power, I have to pause and think about what that means. 

In Isaiah 40, the prophet calls on his people to look up for proof of God and His power.  He calls them to examine the night skies and consider their origin and consistency.  I examine these skies using a telescope that amplifies light by over 600 times.  It pulls the image of things hidden in the skies that those in the prophet's day were invisible, but still there.  One of my favorite is a seemingly perfectly round nebula in the Lyra constellation.  It is the image of the expanding outer shell of a shattered star.  It exploded and this is the outer surface moving away from the event in a perfect circle.  It is beautiful.  It is also frightening.

This star is known by God by name, and it is not "missing" in the sense that He does not know where it is.  He formed it, and He destroyed it, or rather reformed it into a small dwarf star of limited power and light.  Its luster and glory is now in the ring expanding away from it.  Why should I not be wary of such a God?  Why would I focus my attention on anything or anyone but such a God?  I see and know, and read and know, and yet act as if I don't.

By His numerous power, uncountable stars are accounted for.  How can I escape?  He knows the stars He formed by name.  Where can I hide?  Is my imagination so paltry, so thin and meager that I would not consider with vivid color and noise such a God?  Can I come up with any excuse why I do not tremble in every prayer as I consider to Whom I pray?  What possible explanation can I give to adequately support my lack of attention, adoration, and adulation toward this God?  How is it that my day and my actions in it can look so much like those of those who give no consideration to their Maker?

I will let my imagination loose into the cosmos to seek the majesty of One responsible for every detail of every atom of every galaxy within it.  And I will not let my imagination return to focus on lessor things.  OK, I will of necessity, unless I can multitask, keeping my imagination occupied out there while I respond to things here.  I'm not sure I am that mentally flexible.  That may be part of my problem, but only part, and not a very good excuse I think.  After all, what can be a better use of an imagination than to consider God?