Photo by paul bica

By Chloe Sun

It is difficult to imagine if we have no imagination. Imagination carries the idea of picturing the unseen in the future. It involves a creative mind – a mind that defies the constraints of the current circumstances to look beyond, to think the unthinkable. Imagination takes one to a different world, a world that transcends the present reality and turns it into a future possibility. Imagination is necessary to cope with a dull or an uninteresting life. Once, I heard someone say “if you can imagine it, then you can see it happen.” I thought to myself, This statement has a lot of truth in it.

However, Isaiah 64:4 says that “For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides you, who acts in behalf of the one who waits for him.” Paul quoted this verse in 1 Corinthians 2:9 and applies it as a promise for those who love God that what God has prepared for them is beyond their imagination. For the exilic Israel, it was difficult to imagine a day when God would restore them to their land (Isa 14). It was difficult to imagine God would use a gentile ruler, the Persian king Cyrus, to bring about the restoration (Isa 45:9-13). It was even more difficult to imagine that the Messiah would be a suffering servant (Isa 53). Even until over two thousand years, many Jewish people still find this idea of a suffering Messiah to be unthinkable. Yet, it happened. The human mind can be tricky sometimes. “If you can imagine it, then you can see it happen” may not ring true after all since in God, all things are possible.

When I was younger, I never imagined I would become a Christian, let alone a seminary professor. I never imagined I would travel the world when I had a fear of flying. I never imagined I would own a dog and become so fond of him since I was scared of dogs when I was little. I never imagined I would be speaking in front of people all the time when I was so timid…..the list can go on and on.

Perhaps one way to discern the work of God in our lives is to see what we can imagine in our mind. If we can imagine it, it does not mean it will happen. A lot of times, when God acts, his ways are often higher than ours (Isa 55:9) and goes against our expectations. There are limits to what our mind can think and how far our imagination can go. The Israelites experienced this unexpected God firsthand when the exiles returned from Babylon. For them, it was like a dream (Ps 126:1). Because of this unexpected God working in unexpected ways and because of our own limits in imaging the future, we can trust God and believe that amazing things will happen beyond our imagination. Imagine that!

Chloe Sun, PhD., has been teaching Hebrew Scriptures at Logos Evangelical Seminary since 2004. Her research interests include culture, gender, and identity issues in the Old Testament, Asian American Interpretations of the Bible, and Wisdom Literature. She lives with her husband and son in Southern California.