The Creative Side of Things

A blank canvas. A ball of untouched clay. A white wall. A block of wood or stone.

The artist has the ability to look at such an object and see something that is not yet there. And then they pick up a brush or a chisel and they create what their mind sees one stroke at a time. 

It's amazing to me: the creativity placed in us as human beings. That creativity has to come from God, the best creator I know. He took an empty, void, dark universe and saw something there that no one else could have imagined. He saw light and a world with mountains and reefs and sunsets and people - people who he would love, but who would reject him, so he would construct a plan to sacrifice his only son in their place so that he could be reunited with them in perfection and in eternity. 

Who could look at nothingness and then create that? Such a marvelous mystery, such a wonder, such an epic story. That's our creator God. 

A piece of the creator God lives in each one of us, and I believe we all have the ability to create. But maybe it's not necessarily a recreational or artistic ability. Maybe it's a calling. 

Like an artist, I look at the life ahead of me. It's a blank slate. I can see a masterpiece years down the road - a center for infants in distress that is fully operated and functioning by Africans, a medical clinic where I can work side by side with nationals and pray at the beside of patients, a thriving ministry for women and children in the churches. I see a life where I know the name of my neighbors and the man who makes bread, and I wave at them as I walk down the road. I ask them about their children, and when I get the chance, I tell them about Jesus and they come to find this joy and salvation that I have in him. 

That's what I see when I look at this block of wood in front of me, this hard lump of clay, this stark white canvas. So now I must pick up a brush, dip it delicately in paint, and place a stroke on this life, confident that each mark will somehow create the image that I have in my mind, and ultimately knowing that God will make a masterpiece out of my small efforts. 

In the past, mission work has always been handed to me in the form of a 10 day schedule or a one month project. That's the beauty of short term missions. Now, I am on the other side of things. There is no one creating a schedule for me; I get the chance to create a ministry and a life here. 

"What does your daily life look like?" My friend asked me yesterday in a skype conversation. Again this morning, I received a text, "So what are you up to day after day?" 

What does a day in the life look like? It looks like planting a garden with Micah and helping London with her chemistry experiments. It looks like learning to ride a moto, baking a quiche from scratch, and taking a shower in the dark. It looks like finding a dead frog in your carpet that has clearly been there a really, really long time. And in the middle of all that, it looks like receiving a visit from Fabrice and his family. 

Fabrice is a one-year-old infant whom our team sent to Ouaga for a hernia repair and circumcision. After successful procedures, his family returned and dropped by to say thank you. I bounced Fabrice on my knee and made him smile so big that my heart melted, and I whispered in his ear, "Jesus t'aime" ("Jesus loves you"), and we prayed with the family before they left. 

That's a day in the life. That's a stroke on the canvas. 

So what is your canvas? Where is your brush, and what is it that God is asking you to create for him? Creativity is not just a gift for some people, it is a piece of the Father's heart in us all. Creativity is not just a recreation, it's a calling. Sometimes you get to start with an empty canvas. Other times you get to pick up a brush and add your stroke to the mural or your stitch to the grand tapestry. Yet each of us is invited to participate in this creative mission of God. 

I encourage you with the words that encouraged me this week from 1 Chronicles 22:13,16,19 and 28:20...

"Be strong and courageous. Fear not, do not be dismayed. Arise and work! The Lord be with you. Now set your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God. Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you until all the work is finished."