“⁷ So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰ For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:7-10, English Standard Version)

Imagination can be a good thing. Without it, most of the great literature, paintings, music, and scientific discoveries would never have occurred.

But there is a counterfeit imagination that is called “fantasy”, and it is not a good thing. It can occur in any area of life: food, sex, relationships of all kinds, the financial arena, and so on. Fantasy imagines that things can be better than they can ever be. Fantasy imagines that the cause-and-effect connection doesn’t hold, at least for me. For example, I have this fantasy that I can eat lots and lots of chocolate and still be trim and in good health. I am fully capable of fantasizing myself into all kinds of problems.

So, I have decided to fight unhealthy fantasies of all kinds with quantification. Here is my affirmation to my 12-step sponsors yesterday. (My friends’ names have been left out to preserve their anonymity.)

“Today, by God’s grace, I am setting the timer on my smartphone every time I am inclined to go into fantasy mode. I will quantify my addictive thinking. Since I hate record-keeping, this should help cut down on my foolish mind games. (Incidentally, I tried this yesterday, and it worked very well indeed. Nothing to report! Sometimes, even your weaknesses can work to strengthen you. Thank you, _____and _______. Conversation with you guys made me resolve to try this.)”

Now let me explain. I am not good with numbers. I don’t like them, and never have. My A.D.D. mind also rebels against keeping records. So, I am trying to make my weaknesses work for me. If I pledge myself to hitting the stopwatch any time I am inclined to enter the world of unreality (a.k.a. fantasy), I start my stopwatch. So far, this seems to be working really well.

The Apostle Paul also found that he could use his weaknesses for his own benefit and even for God’s glory. In the verse that leads off this post, we see at least three things:

1. Paul had some weakness in his body which troubled him greatly.
2. He repeatedly prayed about this weakness, wanting God to remove it.
3. God said no because God’s power was made complete by Paul’s weakness.

So Paul decides that since God’s power is made complete by his human weakness, he (Paul) would boast about his weakness. Human wisdom brags about its strengths, but divine wisdom leverages human weakness for God’s glory.

Do you have weaknesses that you would like to get rid of? Stop it! Begin to thank God for your weaknesses. They are real and they a really wonderful gift from God. They can help you with all kinds of problems—including the problem of fantasy.