More Than All We Ask or Imagine!

By Jackina Stark

Transformation is a cultural phenomenon. I know this because I have television.

HGTV is practically devoted to it. But I think every network has hopped on the transformation bandwagon.

Aren”t you amazed at Extreme Makeover? Of course, most of us are amazed that people would stand before cameras in their underwear and have someone draw lines to show what kind of work is going to be done. What a nightmare! But I must admit the unveiling is exciting, as each brave and transformed soul steps out of the limousine that transports them to their reveal party. I have gasped right along with their family and friends when they walk in, extend their arms, and spin around””they look so different, so unimaginably lovely.

SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION

It”s strange we love transformation so much, but don”t seem too concerned with the transformations needed in our spiritual lives. Our spirits need transformation much more than our bodies, wardrobes, or homes. But transformation isn”t likely if we don”t offer “our bodies as living sacrifices,” which happens when we let the Word of God renew our minds (Romans 12). When we claim God”s promises and follow his guidelines, incredible things will happen.

Paul”s wonderful prayer in his letter to the Ephesians closes with some of the most encouraging words in Scripture: “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 glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (3:20, 21).

What God can do in and for you will take your breath away. Scripture is full of people God has transformed. I think the transformations were recorded so we can know what God will do in our lives.

I wish one of the disciples were carrying a digital camera the evening Jesus and his followers sailed across the Sea of Galilee to the region of the Gadarenes. He could have snapped a picture of the demon-possessed man who fell at Jesus” feet as soon as Jesus stepped out of the boat. It would have been a dandy. The man lived in the tombs, naked except for the chains that might have dangled from his wrists and ankles.

But the “after” picture would have been even more exciting””after Jesus cast out the legion of demons that were in him. Picture this: the man now sits at Jesus” feet, calm, dressed, and in his right mind.

Such transformations took place again and again. Many of the things Jesus did were prophesied in Isaiah: “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy”! (35:5, 6). That passage continues, “Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.” While this may be literal, it is probably a metaphor to prepare us for the more significant emotional and spiritual healing that Jesus will bring.

I”ve always believed the physical healings were to prove Jesus can do everything he promises. They were his credentials for skeptics who doubted he could forgive sins and restore broken lives. Zacchaeus experienced this healing. The woman at the well also experienced it.

This transformation even makes yielded disciples and faithful servants into more than they could ask or imagine. The story of Peter demonstrates this so well. Jesus transforms him from someone who fearfully denies he knows Jesus in the high priest”s courtyard into someone who boldly tells the “rulers, elders and teachers of the law” that salvation is found in no other name but Jesus (Acts 4). I love that transformation!

COMPLETING A GOOD WORK

Many times in our Christian life we need to let God transform us until, as it says in Philippians 1:6, “he who began a good work in you” carries it “on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

His good work begins when we accept him. I think I got a jump-start at glimpsing the power of God at work in us in the fourth grade when my mom and dad came to Christ, and our family was saved in every way. What a transformation!

My dad”s favorite song begins: “Years I spent in vanity and pride, caring not my Lord was crucified, knowing not it was for me he died””on Calvary.” I”ve seen him throw his head back and sing that song with such conviction. I know how much he believes it: “Mercy there was great, and grace was free; pardon there was multiplied to me; there my burdened soul found liberty””at Calvary.” This song is his testimony.

Mom”s is simpler: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.” They were truly converted. Jesus was their love and their Lord. The old ways of doing and thinking were replaced by new.

Oh, but after we accept him transformation has just begun. I”ve learned again and again that the Holy Spirit can do what I cannot.

I remember sitting in my car in a friend”s driveway and praying God would help me reach out to this person who had hurt me. If not, a breach would occur that would affect so many people, including the two of us. Tears streamed down my face, and I could not raise my voice above a whisper as I paraphrased St. Francis”s prayer: Let me not desire to be understood or consoled; instead, help me to understand and console my friend.

I was terrified, thinking I could not do this most difficult and unnatural thing. But I got out of the car, believing the Holy Spirit could do this. I remember how free I felt when, within an hour, he mended broken and estranged hearts.

Everyone needs to be transformed to be more like Christ. We need to become more generous, more compassionate, more merciful. Such transformation of the heart is the most amazing kind of miracle.

There are other ways to be transformed. Some of us need to overcome habits that are detrimental to our well-being.

I know a woman who had smoked for 30 years. She understood what that does to her lungs and, worse, how it wrinkles the skin. She had wanted to quit for years. When she finally decided to quit, a doctor told her a wonderful method that helps people quit smoking in as few as six weeks. She appreciated the doctor”s concern, but she knew her Lord, “can do immeasurably more that she could ask or imagine”””so she believed God could and would do it in one day.

Many of us need to step out of our comfort zones and let God transform us into vessels he can use for his glory. I know a man who wanted to preach but worried because his extreme stuttering made public speaking virtually impossible. However, he believed in that power which God “exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead” (Ephesians 1:20) and spent his life preaching the gospel effectively.

I know a woman who was terrified to stand before a group of people and lead them in worship, though she loved God and people and music. So after preparing in every way possible, she accepted God”s promise to do more than she could imagine and stood before the congregation to begin her worship ministry.

TERRIFIED, BUT ENABLED

I can identify with her terror. When I first began teaching at Ozark Christian College 28 year ago, I was asked to give my first speech. Teaching and speaking are quite different, and speaking was not something I thought I would or could do. But speaking for and about God is a good thing, and believing God could do what I cannot, I accepted invitations.

Every time I went out that spring, I prayed the same prayer. It began, “Dear Father,” and was followed by sobbing. I would put my forehead on my bed and sob and sob. When my crying finally stopped, I would close my prayer with, “In the name of Jesus, Amen.” Then I would get up, reapply my makeup, grab my notes, and go to do what God had put before me to do.

This enabling, like the power to forgive with his help, has stayed with me. I hope to always be open to what God might want me to do. Recently, that meant traveling overseas, though I never thought I”d translate or travel well.

While my older daughter, Stacey, has done quite a bit of missions work, my daughter Leanne prefers to serve God closer to home””in fact, she doesn”t like to go further than 10 miles from home. Yet Leanne went to Cambodia with me to see how God could use her there.

We were among 12 ladies who went on that March trip, and many were transformed into ambassadors for this benevolent and evangelistic work. We went to two missions in Cambodia, including Rapha House, a home for girls rescued from sex slavery. Leanne and I adore the Cambodian people, and we left part of our hearts there.

God showed us ways we could help while we were there, so Leanne and I did something we never expected””we returned to Cambodia in July. We will continue to go as long as God has work for us to do there. Leanne is taking her daughter next summer, and if it is God”s will, the two of them can continue long after I”ve gone to be with the Lord.

SOMETHING BREATHTAKING

I pray that I will always trust God to do immeasurably more than I can ask or imagine. To the extent we fail to yield to God”s transforming work in our lives, we are diminished. We miss out.

Let”s allow him do his good work. Often it begins with painful submitting, but it ends with something happening within us so breathtaking that before God, the only audience that matters, we can extend our arms and spin around, and say, “Thank you, Lord, for what you have done in me and through me and for me!”

Jackina Stark teaches at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri.