7. Through imagination, guided by Spirit, I can identify with and find myself in the stories of the Bible.

(Before looking at the questions below, take a few minutes to think about this statement. Invite Jesus to speak to you about what He would like you to notice.) 

Would you say that you have a good imagination?

How does the idea of you imagining yourself in a biblical story seem to you?

When you read the stories in Scripture, like Jesus walking on water, do you try to imagine the scene in your mind?

How do you feel about the idea that the Spirit could use your imagination to help you experience a deeper reality of a story in the Bible? 

Imagine receiving a letter or email, from a close friend or spouse. As you read the letter, you probably can imagine actually hearing their voice, being with them, or them being with you. The more you know about this person and the context for their letter, the easier it will be for you to experience the person who is writing the letter and imagine being together. Ultimately, when you use your imagination, the letter enhances your relationship with the sender. 

So too with Scripture. If we assume that it is a letter from a friend, from Jesus, that is describing an event or truth that He wants us to know about and share with us, our imagination can help us experience it more personally than if we were to simply read the text for its content. For example, let’s consider the story of Jesus walking on water while the disciples are struggling in a wind-driven storm. If we read these verses in Matthew 14 we see that Jesus sends the disciples ahead in the boat, then afterwards, when the waves threaten to sink the boat, Jesus comes walking by on the water. 

The text says the disciples thought he was a ghost and were terrified. But Jesus, seeing this, tells them to take courage--it’s just Me. Peter then gets invited to go out to meet Jesus on the water. But he sinks, so Jesus saves him and returns him safely to the boat.  Immediately the storm stops. It’s an amazing story, but if you read only for plot, it can almost put Jesus in a place that we simply cannot connect with--miracle worker, mysterious, powerful, and beyond human. 

With imagination though, we might be able to understand this in a different way. Take some time to imagine that you are with the disciples in the boat. You smell the waves mingled with the sweat of desperately rowing men. You feel the wind and the intense rolling of the boat, almost throwing you out into the water. You sense everyone’s anxiety and fear.  And then all of the sudden you see Jesus walking on the water! As you read the story and fill in the details in your mind, what do you feel, what do you think, and where are you in the story? 

Maybe you identify with Peter, or one of the disciples rowing. You feel the fear and then you watch as Jesus simply takes care of the problem--the storm, Peter’s near drowning--and sits with you in the boat. And you experience His love, concern and care for you, and you see His face looking at you with compassion. Now this may not always be what you experience and not every story in the Bible lends itself to this imaginative reading, but when it does, Jesus becomes not an historical person with unbelievable power but also an intimate companion whose power, coupled with His love for you, invites you into a relationship with Him. 

There are some guidelines that will help us when we engage in imaginative reading. It is important that we never use imagination to experience something about God that we cannot confirm to be true in the texts of Scripture. Also, our experiences of imaginative reading of Scripture are for us to enrich our relationship with God. These are not experiences that we should use to teach others. When we follow these simple guidelines, we can safely enjoy experiencing the stories of Scripture in a way that makes them personal and draws us closer to God.