Expecting The Unimaginable

I'm reading Frank Damazio's The Attitude of Faith. I've been a churchgoer my entire life. I came to know Jesus as my Savior in my teens, although it took me well into my twenties to embrace living like I knew him.

Now in my forties, I'm examining my faith anew. I've seen and heard of God doing miraculous things in the lives of others, and in my own life. My family has never slept on the street or missed a meal, even in times when I surely thought we might.

Everything hasn't been a bowl of cherries. I spent my childhood watching my mother grow increasingly debilitated by multiple schlerosis. I lost my father right after I graduated from college, before I had a chance to discuss with him, one adult to another, his life and his perspective on how the world was evolving. I gave birth to a stillborn baby girl and felt like I was folded up into myself, that taking care of my toddler son, being a wife, and going to work everyday was an out of body experience. I've experienced eviction and losing 99% of my material goods.

Through all of that and more, God has always in my mind still been God, capable of more than I could ever imagine. I've never questioned His love for me. Yet, there have been times when I've felt bound by my past, stuck in a rut and found myself considering whether I truly expected Him to do the unimaginable in my life.

I think it's easy to get into a mental and emotional pattern of life that includes God but doesn't embrace all that God is moment by moment. It's the reason so many Christians, in my opinion, "live beneath their privilege", as the old folks used to say. We believe in God and all that He is; we just don't expect God to be and do all that He can in our lives. We're the first to shout "Praise the Lord" when He blesses someone else, then we go about our way with the same doubts and negative thoughts filling our hearts and minds.

This is what Damazio addresses in his book. One's attitude toward their faith.

I discovered that my faith attitude needed a wake-up call. It needed to be aired out, brushed off, shined up, and fluffed. I need to renew it so that I could once again live within my privilege as a child of God.

There's a prayer in the first chapter of Damazio's book that I find myself now reciting throughout the day, and that I plan to teach to my children:

Lord, I believe that You are good, and that You desire to release into my life wonderful, unimaginable, miraculous, great, and mighty things. Today, I pray with large expectations by the power of the Holy Spirit. Enlarge my vision. Increase my faith. Secure my future. Amen.

Out of habit, I always insert a "In Jesus name" before the "Amen", but I find myself meditating on the words of this prayer and really thinking about the extent to which I believe them and what they mean for my life.

The word that twirls around most in my head is unimaginable. It's more than just things that I haven't imagined. I know that God can do above and beyond the things that I imagine. Yet, it's more than that. To me, unimaginable also means that even after God has worked His work, that I see and experience the benefits thereof, that it's more than my mind can imagine, more than I can envision, more than I can comprehend.

That's the level of expectancy that I desire in my faith.

It's not about God being a genie and granting my wildest wishes. No, it's about living securely in the knowledge and sure belief that God is able. Period. In my life as much as in anyone else's.

What's your attitude regarding your faith? What do you expect from God? Do you believe your tomorrow is destined to be the same as your today, or do you expect great things from God?

Try it. It's liberating.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia