Creativity is a gift of God.

Because we are made in the image of our Creator, He gives us the ability and desire to practice creativity We are not able to do as He does and truly create out of nothing but we spend our lives recreating.

All of us are creative in some way. We may string words and chords together to make beautiful music. We may add paint to a canvas in breathtaking fashion. We may redo old furniture to make it useful or experiment with different chemical solutions to discover something new. We may work with numbers and so create order or craft a beautiful scrapbook to hold our memories. We cannot help but be creative because we are created to be this way.

God gives the gift of creativity.

God made us to be a reflection of His character as we work within His creation to make things beautiful.

Creativity is given to people so that we can honor the God we serve by caring for His creation and working within His world.

I have known this truth for a long time but I didn’t realize its practical implications until a few months ago. I falsely thought of my creativity in the general sense as a gift God had given but did not trust Him to supply the specific creativity I needed to face the situations that arose in my life.

The Backstory

I spent hours searching Pinterest. I was facilitating a ladies Bible study through 1 Peter: A Living Hope in Christ and it was drawing to a close, Christmas was fast approaching, and I wanted to give the ladies a gift that would help them remember our time together. I agonized over the right gift to give (the way I always do!) but could not think of a thing.

During this time I was reading Gloria Furman’s book Missional Motherhood and something she said sparked much thought and conviction in my heart.  In the introduction to this book, as she speaks of what the reader can look forward to, she says,

“Heaven knows that what you don’t need is a book full of my quirky, half-baked how-tos that only work a pathetic percentage of the time. This book is not a catalog of my creative ideas for living missionally – I believe those creative ideas are going to be generated in your own heart as the Spirit strengthens your faith and leads your family.”

The truth of those words stung in my heart. I hadn’t prayed about this gift at all. I was searching Pinterest for something the women in my class would be blessed by without ever asking the Lord, who knew their hearts, what would minister to them. I felt ridiculous.

As I began to pray, the Lord did indeed give me an idea I had never seen on Pinterest. And, while I dearly love to give good gifts and spend painful amounts of time thinking about it, I am not able to accomplish what I hope to as far as blessing people unless the Lord intercedes.

It seems a normal concept that I should pray about everything (Philippians 4:6) – including the gifts I should give the women of my church. To my shame, however, I did not think of it on my own.

I love Pinterest and roaming it to look for the answers to my questions is a regular thing I find myself doing.

In this situation, hours of frustration with myself and Pinterest produced nothing until I prayed. The Lord, who is the giver of creativity, was the giver of that idea and I could take no credit for the glory was His alone.

Isn’t this true of every area of our lives?

As I think about my children growing up I want them to “rise up and call me blessed!” (Proverbs 31:28). However, the more prominent desire ought to be that they would magnify the name of the Lord with me (Psalm 34:3)!

If I am truly praying for wisdom in all of my relationships, praying that the Lord would fill me with the energy and ideas I need to bless others, then when people are blessed because of me, He gets the glory! He receives honor because He is the worthy One who supplied on my behalf and theirs.

Because the Lord is gracious, many people will honor those He uses which is a good thing. This should serve to humble the heart that genuinely knows He gave the means, the opportunities, the ideas, and the strength. We were simply a willing vessel. And He is even the One who made us willing.

What a beautiful concept!

As I struggle in my own pride and foolishness to remember this, my heart aches for the glory of God. I am silly to draw attention to myself. He is good, gracious, wise and deserving of all reverence. He will take care of me.

He is creative, He made creativity, He gives it as a gift, and we must seek Him if we desire to genuinely bless others.

It seems God is working in my heart to this end a lot lately. Check out The 7 Word Prayer that Changed My Life With Littles for more of what God is doing in my family as He gives the means, opportunity, and strength to be a blessing.