I have been told I am a creative person, and I have come to think of myself as such. This doesn’t mean I can paint or draw (I can’t!), it doesn’t mean if you come over to my house you will see a giant bohemian mismash of decor. But it does mean that I enjoy the act of creating. I enjoy decorating, sewing, crafts, jewelry making, and yes, trying to paint or draw- although they never turn out!
When I was trying to make a living from making glass beads and jewelry, (see my post The Refining Fire) people would ask me all the time- so where do you get your ideas? They ask me the same thing now too, with this blog, where do you get your ideas from? And the thing is- I don’t know!
Oh I love creativity and the creative process and I’ve read books on enhancing and developing creativity so yes, technically I know techniques that I can employ to help generate new ideas, for example: I love pinterest and books stores, and know what settings can help spark that creativity in me- but one can do these things and sometimes an idea will still not result. That’s why you hear stories of writers getting writer’s block.
Creativity is something that God only gave to us humans, the rest of the animal kingdom doesn’t have this gift. But where does it come from? How can we make it show up when we need it to? Sometimes I’m not sure that we can…
People ask me “Where do you get your creativity from?” and I always start to panic a little, because I don’t know! What if nothing else shows up for us? What if I have used up my last creative idea and I’m just done? This feeling makes me want to hoard any creative ideas, to store them away so I have at least one idea left!
This has kind of been a self fulfilling prophecy in my life. During the times when I don’t feel like I am overflowing with ideas, I get a little stuck and I start to panic and then all the ideas dry up. But. I lean into the ideas that I have and usually they expand. I get more ideas from these ideas and before I know it I have a list of ideas to expand on and the fear of running out of future ideas is momentarily suspended.
I felt a little convicted of this desire to “idea hoard,” when I was reading my bible and came across the parable of the three servants. A rich man is going on a long trip so he calls 3 of his servants and gives the first one 5 bags of silver, 2 bags of silver to the second servant, and one bag of silver to the third servant- amounts determined by their abilities.
The servant with 5 bags of silver invests his money and ends up doubling his money. The second servant with 2 bags also doubled his income, but that last servant, knowing his master to be a hard man, hid his money in a field.
When the rich man comes home they all gather together to give him an accounting. The master is pleased that the first two had doubled their money, but to the servant who hid his money the rich man is very displeased. He takes that bag, (the servant could have at least put money in a bank where it could have earned interest!) and gives it to the servant who was originally given the 5 bags. “For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance.” Matthew 25:29 NIV
Why am I trying to hoard the creative ideas that have been given to me? We are given gifts to use them, and when we do they expand!
Are you using your gifts to their fullest potential? What story have you been telling yourself about the gifts you’ve been given? Is there something that you are afraid to lean into for fear of it evaporating?
Are afraid that God has only blessed you with so much, and you will not have any more if you try to use that gift? Are you afraid to tithe because you don’t want your budget to end up short that month? Do you neglect to have people over to your home because it’s small, or not as nice as you want it to be?
God blessed us with these things so that we could use them! God didn’t give us these gifts for them to evaporate as soon as we utilize them, He wants us to use what we have to bless others.
The next time you feel a prompting to do something, use a gift or ability that God has given you, or have a prompting to help someone who is truly in need, I hope you don’t silence that inner voice. I hope you invest yourself into that blessing and I bet you will be amazed at how God compounds your efforts.