As I imagine...

10:11 p.m. Today's project was to take an hour of my business time to visit the dentist. With a zero co-pay, and 3 years since my last visit, I had run out of excuses.

What is it about the dentist anyway? I don't know the numbers exactly, but Americans in large percentages dread and fear dentists more than doctors! And aren't doctors the ones who give out the worst of the worst bad news? Somehow, "You might need a crown in a year or so," which I was told today, doesn't have the impact of, "The lump in your right breast is cancer," like I was told 9 years ago.  Maybe the fear is that while poking around in our mouths scraping tartar from around and in between our teeth with that pointy pick, the dentist will hit a nerve. (That actually happened to me by the same dentist I saw today, and the whole side of my face just froze! His nurse tended to me, explaining that he was having a bad time with his fiancee)! So I might have had some fear, but that's doubtful. I think, like most people, I avoid time-consuming activities that don't seem urgent, especially if I'm not in pain or in some kind of trouble!

I actually received a clean bill of dental health, and several compliments on my flossing. There was still some scraping involved, but nothing uncomfortable like I had imagined. Thank you, Lord, for a good report!

God created us with the capacity to imagine, which is the basis for major accomplishments of every kind. Vision for saving the lost in your neighborhood or across the country begins with imagining yourself carrying out what God has put into your heart. Our imaginations help us to "work out what God has worked in!"  Proverbs 23:7 says of mankind,

As he thinks in his heart, so is he.

And how true that is! How many times have you headed for an event or occasion, thinking that you'll have no one to sit with, or won't be drssed right, and whether you end up fitting in or not, your evening was ruined before you arrived, as Job put it in Job 3:25,

For the thing I greatly feared has
  come upon me,
And what I dreaded has happened
  to me.

But the human imagination can be much worse, as God said in Genesis 8:21 :

The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. 

Can our hearts and our imaginations be cleansed ? Psalm 119::9 says,

How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Your word'."

So before we avoid our responsibilities, neglect our health, or just let things go, let's ask the Lord what we should do, and when, and trust Him to go before us into a glorious day  and an unimaginable future with Him!