Core Radiate
  • Welcome
  • Competencies
  • Consulting Services
  • Portfolio
  • About Kim
  • Contact
  • Inspirational Blog
  • Faith-Based Portfolio
  • Subscribe Now

Glimmers in the Fog

Finding Glimpses of Divine Providence in Everyday Life
Subscribe & Get my FREE RADIATE eBook Devotional
Picture
When you sign up for my email list four amazing things happen! 
1 - You'll get an encouraging blog post in your inbox each week.
2 - You'll receive a FREE version of my newest devotional book RADIATE 
3 - You'll get sneak peeks at my forthcoming e-books and novel.
4 - You'll be helping me get published one day, just by subscribing and sharing my posts with others. 
Thank you – you're awesome!
CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE NOW
EU Residents ONLY - Please Sign Up Here

Why I Believe in Magic

4/11/2018

8 Comments

 

We are all living stories, each hoping to see something miraculous

Picture
Picture
Mark Twain once said that there is no such thing as a new idea. “It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations.” Heroes versus villains, boy meets girl, good versus evil, the underdog making a comeback – these themes and outcomes are as familiar to each of us as the voice of a loved one. It doesn’t matter whether it’s an epic battle in space told in a 2018 movie theater or a child’s bedtime story told by a roaring hearth in the Middle Ages, humans are creatures of habit and a good story well told has been important to us since the dawn of time. 

In the same way, both amateur and professional storytellers are fond of incorporating magic into a tale to make it more alluring and exciting. Disney built an empire by weaving stories of magic. Seven of the top 10 best-selling novels of all time are from the Harry Potter series. Even CS Lewis, one of the most respected Christian writers of all time, used magic in his stories to explain the Gospel to children. He did such an amazing job, Disney turned it into a feature film franchise grossing over $1.5 billion worldwide. 

We are enticed by the thought that something magical could occur to rescue us, comfort us, and remind us that there’s more to life than meets the eye. That’s because we are created in the image of God, and deep within every human being is an innate sense that there must be something more. In their innocence and with trusting hearts, children find it easy to believe in the supernatural. Unlike adults, they don’t have anything to come between them and believing in the unseen or inexplicable. Their vision is not blinded by pride, skepticism, personal agenda, and arrogance. Children are like sponges, constantly exploring and stretching their minds. It’s almost as though everything they see has an element of magic to it. 

Unfortunately though, the definition of what’s magical changes as we grow up. As children, magic is as simple as following Kermit the Frog to the end of the rainbow. As adults, our fantasies become far less innocent and significantly more tainted. And the more we drown ourselves in them, the more extreme they seem to become. It’s one of the most ironic facts of this post-industrial age — the larger our appetites expand for consuming fantastical entertainment about supernatural things, the less we believe that anything supernatural can actually happen. Therefore, the very thing most people crave, is the thing that they will never experience in real life. Instead, many choose to gaze at shoddy counterfeits and lurid diversions until they feel numb and able to forget about their hard day at work, the fight with their spouse, or a looming financial problem. As Neil Postman prophetically said, Americans (and I’m sure the rest of the world) are "amusing ourselves to death". 

So as adults trying to survive in a hyper-stressed, seemingly crazy world, how do we not become jaded, hurt and bitter? How do we cultivate a childlike heart that’s trusting, open to the supernatural, and capable of believing what it can’t see? The answer is simple: humility. Easy to understand, but challenging to implement. Contrary to what many people think, being a savvy, brain-using adult doesn’t mean that we have to kick all notions of the supernatural to the curb. And being an ardent believer in the possibility of the miraculous doesn’t mean we are not called to think. God doesn’t want us to have an immature faith or to not use our intellect in the pursuit of Him. In fact, far from it, we are commanded to move on from milk to “solid food” in our spiritual growth. (Hebrews 5:14) And the Apostle Paul admonishes us to grow up in Christ in 1 Corinthians 13:11-12: "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” Yet then why does Jesus seem to emphasize the need to be like children over and over? Because pride grows in us as we grow up. We become too proud to admit there are things we cannot understand. Jesus knew pride was the motivation of the disciples when they asked about being the greatest in the kingdom in Matthew 18:1-4. So he put a child on his knee and said they needed to be humble like her. I love the way Luke 10:21 in The Message version puts it, "At that, Jesus rejoiced, exuberant in the Holy Spirit. 'I thank you, Father, Master of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the know-it-alls and showed them to these innocent newcomers. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.'” Again, we see that the typical wisdom of the world can blind us to the real truth and prevent us from seeing the miraculous — whether it’s in the form of something truly spontaneous or something that is slowly transformed over time.  

John Piper says in his book Think, “There is no way to awaken faith or strengthen faith that evades thinking … the mind serves to know the truth that fuels the fires of the heart.” The entire book is a manifesto to truly using your mind as an integral part of your faith experience, and is based on Proverbs 2:3-5, "yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” When we have a mind that is seeking the True Knowledge, the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see God’s supernatural work going on everywhere. 

Since one of my greatest passions — perhaps even my calling — is to help people see glimpses of God in the routine happenings of everyday life, storytelling has become my lifeblood. It’s the reason I quit my job last year to make time to write a novel and blog about God’s relentless pursuit of us. And like CS Lewis, I think the careful, thoughtful incorporation of a kind of magic is critical to draw people in and encourage them to see more clearly the divinely-directed things that happen around us every day. When I write, I am driven to create wonderment for the reader of God’s glory, magnificence, power, and unending love for us. It’s a tall order in a distracted culture with a short attention span, but as Aslan the lion said in Lewis’ first novel, “there is a magic deeper still … before the dawn of time” and it will always triumph. Of course, Aslan represents the Lion of Judah, another name for Christ, who existed before the beginning, who reigns in heaven now, and who is to come back in glory. His light always burns, no matter how brightly other false lights try to outshine it. By following my calling to write, I am believing that God will do the miraculous, and somehow cause the messages He lays on my heart to find their way to the right people at the right time. 

We are all living stories, unfolding day by day. When we get out of bed each morning, the decision that awaits us is will we live out our story for ourselves or be willing to turn it over to God to write for us. Magic in a fairy tale is instantaneous, unpredictable and used as a means to an end. Miracles in our stories may be instantaneous like hearing God’s direction in your heart, or they may take many months or years to come to fruition, like the restoration of a relationship or the healing of a mental illness. Some miracles are as predictable as the sunrise if we have eyes to see them. “His mercies are new every morning…” Lamentations 3:22-23 Most importantly, God’s miracles are never just a means to an end. They are always part of His grand story. And the coolest part is that His believers know exactly how that story is going to end. 
​

***
Help me share this story! Please post to social media or share it with a friend. And, if you like my blog, please sign up to get it in your email. When you do, it will help me prove to a potential publisher that I have something worth printing some day! Thank you!

8 Comments
Jacqueline Burwell
4/11/2018 08:55:06 pm

I’m excited to see future postings. Loved this one

Reply
Kim
4/12/2018 06:46:46 am

Thanks! I am so glad you enjoyed it!

Reply
Charlene Gerrish
4/12/2018 06:11:28 pm

I enjoy your Glimmers each week. This one was really special !

Reply
Kim
4/14/2018 10:20:19 am

Thank you so much! I appreciate the encouragement!

Reply
Carol Penta
4/12/2018 08:45:17 pm

Thank you

Reply
Kim
4/14/2018 10:20:58 am

Thank you, Carol, for reading! :-)

Reply
Bianca
4/13/2018 09:59:19 pm

Very good article

Reply
Kim
4/14/2018 10:21:16 am

Thank you Bianca!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Search the Blog Archive

    Hint: When using search, you will need to scroll down through results to find exact post. 

    Categories

    All
    Attributes Of God
    Growing Through Difficulties
    Health & Fitness
    Hearing God's Voice
    Joy & Contentment
    Loving & Serving
    Overcoming Temptation
    Prayer & Quiet Time
    Reduce Anxiety & Stress
    Sharing Your Faith
    Spiritual Warfare
    Trusting God

    Archives

    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017

    About Glimmers in the Fog

    Every life is a story, so the big question for every person is: "Who's writing your ending?" Majesty, mystery, and miracles are waiting for us to discover in the most ordinary days if we have the heart to see them. Glimmers in the Fog offers hope and inspiration with spiritual musings, heartfelt confessions, and timely encouragement from a hungry soul in pursuit of the One who set the stars in place yet calls me by name. 


    get glimmers in your inbox!

    If you like reading my blog, please sign up for my email list. You'll get my posts in your inbox once a week, plus my free eBook RADIATE. You'll also have exclusive access to my new content.

    countingmyblessings

    Picture

    Picture

PLEASE READ OUR PRIVACY POLICY & TERMS OF USE / DISCLAIMER
© COPYRIGHT CORE RADIATE 2022. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Welcome
  • Competencies
  • Consulting Services
  • Portfolio
  • About Kim
  • Contact
  • Inspirational Blog
  • Faith-Based Portfolio
  • Subscribe Now