Dreams, visions and riddles are the very stuff of which prophecy is made (Numbers 12:6-8; Proverbs 1:6). God uses such things to convey his message. Possibly a vivid imagination is a pre-requisite for the ministry of prophecy, and prophets were often called ‘seers’ in Bible days (e.g. 1 Chronicles 29:29).
Years ago, when my wife and I were newly-married, we bought a small delicatessen. It was run down and we had to work hard to make a go of it.
Vanessa was responsible for the actual management of the shop. As time went by, she began to think of ideas for attracting custom. Many of the old customers had left. How could we attract them back–and attract new customers as well?
We started selling fresh country bread on Sundays. Next Vanessa thought of selling hot roast chicken. She decided to make take-away pizzas. There are pizza bars everywhere these days but in the 1960s they were rare. The custom increased.
Then she re-arranged the whole shop and installed a new soft ice cream machine. Soon, kids came from miles around for the best thickshakes in the district. And so it went on.
I began to learn a lot about the power of imagination. Vanessa’s imaginative skills were a major factor in our turning a run-down business into what is still today a flourishing concern. She was courageous enough to dream exciting dreams, to imagine daring projects and to conceive original ideas.
To be concluded
To read more on this topic see Living in the Image of God, Barry Chant (Miranda: Tabor, 2012 available in eBook and Paperback) from which this edited extract is taken.