Creativity

I love being creative. Actually it’s more than that. I have to have some time in my life to create—it’s like a ‘need’. I have been blessed to have a “Creative Room”. My grandkids like that room and go in there and make things, usually with cloth and the sewing machine. If I don’t have time to produce with cloth, yarn, music or writing, then my poor husband gets meals that have been an outlet for my creative energy. Sadly they’re not usually my best work.

And really, lest I give the impression that I’m some sort of artist—I’m not. Nothing that I design and construct is truly exceptional—except maybe to my grandgirls! Bless their hearts full of praise! No, when I conceive a project, for me, it’s not really about the outcome but the process. But I can feel God’s pleasure in my forming the new.

For example, I learned to play the piano well enough to play the classics, accompany professionally and teach. It was hours of studious, diligent repetition as a child, teen and young adult. I needed notes in order to play well, except maybe a few easy choruses by ear.  But when Holy Spirit got a hold of me, the Lord told me He’d give me a gift if I’d like it. It was a gift of just free-playing the piano. Sort of like speaking in tongues in music? I said yes, and just started to play and there it was. Just generating sounds and moods without any premeditated planning or charting. It’s very relaxing for me and most people like listening to my freelance music. It wasn’t a skill I learned but a gift that came. It has healed me from the pressure/stress of piano performance.

I believe God is into creativity. He made everything from nothing and He is called Creator. God likes to hide surprises in His Creation—we get to dig out these surprises, (often called science), and become discoverers and designers. For example, I woke up one morning from a dream and the only thing the dream had was a mental picture of a design. It was from the Lord. Just a spiral design. Weird, eh?  But I drew it in my journal and just wondered and pondered that funny static vision.  Well, within a few days my husband and I were watching a nature show on Netflix and this guy, not a christian, was telling his story how he had studied nature, especially shells, and after twenty years found out that nature provided a spiral in so many places. The man then applied the spiral to water towers to help water flow and saved companies thousands of dollars with more efficiency—all from nature. I was blown away, jumping up and down crying, “God showed me the spiral this week!  He showed me his secret design!”  I was pumped that the God of the Universe, Creator God, would show me one of His secret designs of Creation that He really liked! Oh my goodness, it was fun!  So I started doing that design on my quilting projects just thinking of Him while I did it! It was very healing for my love cup.

Yes, God loves creativity.  I think it is part of His character. You know He said that we have to become like little children to enter the Kingdom of God, (Matt. 18:3). Well, kids are the most unique of all in bringing new things into existence. Yesterday I saw my granddaughter with two huge skunk cabbage leaves folded together like a package. Inside was a grass ‘paintbrush’ and wet dirt to ‘paint’ designs on the leaves. Children are the greatest at using the old in new ways! Well the Kingdom of God is very creative. It flows and flexes and makes new things out of old things.  Think of the wine skins parable, (Matt. 9:17). If you can’t humble yourself like a child and forge through new design territory can you really access the Kingdom of God? You can be a christian but can you access the unseen Kingdom? I’m just asking.

Because God is Creator, to create is to be like Him in an aspect of character. Because of that, devising, designing, generating from a purity of imagination will help heal your wounded heart and maybe even your body, because God is the Healer. I know a man who emotionally got through a painful divorce by taking up oil painting as a hobby till he could cope. I know a woman who lost a child, did food art through the grief and still loves children.

Are you suffering, hurting and in pain?  I would encourage you to ask God to give you an outlet to discover, generate and bring new things into existence? Ask God to bring healing to you in the process? Each of us has a different kind of creative gift. Working together with all the gifts, we build something amazing. God is right there wherever creativity is. Put it all together and it’s beautiful.