Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, Ephesians 3:20
Since Christmas is only a week away, I agreed to go shopping with my wife and daughter. I am always amazed at what I will agree to do just to spend time with my daughter. We slowly drove through all the traffic to the stores we would visit. You all know the stores I am talking about. The ones where they sell a $10 dress for $300 but try to get you excited about a 20% off sale! We walked through several stores and eventually found one with the exact items we were hoping to find. I spent my time in the stores wandering around and making sarcastic comments about the prices. One particular store had several motivational signs on the wall. I walked around reading the signs and found one that said, “Live the life you’ve imagined”. I stood there for a minute thinking about the life I am blessed to live with a wife I love and two children I am very proud to call my own. I am blessed to go to a job each day that I enjoy and I wake up each morning looking forward to my day as a teacher and coach. Certainly a job I never imagined as a young person and my wife and children are much better than I could have ever imagined. I also began thinking about what my life would be like if I was living the life I imagined as a young person. As a young boy there were several lives I imagined I would live. I remembered being fascinated with the men who road on the back of the garbage truck and thought, what an awesome way to spend the day. At one time I hoped I would be a fireman so I could drive the fire truck and save people from fires. As I got older I imagined I would be a park ranger and live in the woods with the bears and wolves. There were other lives I imagined as a little boy and most were influenced by my latest favorite television show. I certainly never imagined the life I now live every day.
I am thankful God never allowed me to simply follow my imagination because He had a much different plan for my life. In Ephesians 3, He reminds us that He is able to do more in our lives than we can imagine. What if you or I were living the life we imagined? I would have missed all the exciting moments of my life. I would have missed the relationships that He arranged that will last a lifetime. I would have missed meeting my wife and having two amazing children. I also would have missed the trials and heartache He has lead me through. I am thankful for a future of many blessings that are greater than anything I could imagine.
Chad
