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,  to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations for ever and ever! Amen

Ephesians 3:20

I used to encourage myself with this verse whenever I would feel afraid that the things I  dreamed for might never happen.  

Like God was a genie. And what He would one day give me would be “SO MUCH MORE THAN I COULD EVER ASK OR IMAGINE!” (Say that with a big, booming voice to get the full effect.)😁

And to be honest, He HAS done a lot of “wish-granting” in my life. My two beautiful kids are some evidence of that. 

But there’s another side to this scripture.

A less fluffy,  white clouds, and rainbows version.

Sometimes we hit patches of the darkest dark, a blackness we never asked for, and one we could have never even imagined.

I would never have  imagined  that I would be the “betrayer” in ANY relationship I’ve had with others. Yet, in one way or another,  I have been just that in MANY  of them.

I would never have imagined grappling with so many forms of addiction, but I have.

I would never have imagined being thrown into such deep depression,  but I  was. 

I  would never have imagined struggling through so many life threatening situations, but I  did.

Often, God needs to pretty much tear our lives apart in ways we’d never thought of….just  so we can watch how He puts it back together again!

He gets glory from our weakness, turns evil into redemption,  makes broken into beauty.

Our God has one heck of an imagination!

He’s been creating all of our stories from the beginning of time!

They are all riveting, suspenseful, mysterious, a little romantic,  hysterically funny, sometimes gory, tragic, inspirational …

And EACH ONE IS A MASTERPIECE.

One we could have never imagined.