Creativity

I received a special blessing after Sunday church services.
A precious young girl came up to me with some papers in her hand.
She was giving me one of her stories.
What she was really giving me was her heart.

This young girl is homeschooled.
She is very bright…very precocious.
She knows that I love to write and told me that she writes stories, too.
I mentioned that I would love to read one of her stories sometime.

There she stood with her heart in her hand, as she handed me her work.
She told me that this was part of a series of mystery stories she had written.
She told me that she had placed questions at the end of each mystery.
I was to try and solve them on my own.
I have the answers in the back…on the last page…but you don’t want to look at them!

I promised her that I would read her story…and attempt to solve the mysteries.
We came up with a plan to have tea…with her mother, as well.
At our tea, we would discuss my answers.

What a privilege…to be invited into the life and heart of a child!

I have just spent the last twenty minutes reading and enjoying her stories.
I solved three mysteries perfectly…and got one half right…or half wrong.
Depending on your perspective.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…(Genesis 1:26)

If you do a word search for the word create, in any of its forms, it only pertains to God!
God is the Creator.
We are the creatures.

We are made in His image.
The creativity we possess is a gift from His hand.
Our creativity is to be used to reflect Him and to point others to Him.

When we write, or sing, or paint, or sculpt…we shine His light on a dark world.
When we knit, or sew, or play an instrument, or dance…we spotlight Him in our talents.

If you have a beautiful painting over your mantle and have a light shining on it, no one ever says…What a beautiful light!
People will say…What a beautiful painting!
The light fades into the background as it does the job it is supposed to do.

The light shines on the object it highlights.
The light does not call attention to itself.

God called Moses to speak to Pharaoh on behalf of His people, who were slaves in Egypt.
Moses commanded Pharaoh to let God’s people go.
God knew that Pharaoh’s heart would be hard.

God enabled Moses to do miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt.
God knew that Pharaoh would not listen.
God would lay His hand on Egypt with mighty acts of judgment.

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts. Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs…The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt – over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs – and they will turn to blood'”…Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded…But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts…Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground.’ and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats”…All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats. But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not. (Exodus 7:10-12,19,22 and 8:16-18)

It is a mystery how Pharaoh’s magicians were able to duplicate some of the wonders.
They could not change the dust to gnats.
The dust became gnats because only God creates life.

God created the world “ex nihilo”.
Out of nothing.
Only God can do that.

We are not able to create out of nothing.
We are able to use the gifts God gave us to show the world something beautiful.
His image is exuded in our creativity.

C. S. Lewis once said, We don’t need more Christian writers.
We need more great writers who are Christian.

A subtle but important difference.

Even in a mystery story…written by a ten year old girl…God is there.
When God the Holy Spirit indwells a believer, God is present in the smallest thing.

We must honor God with our creative gifts.
Made in His image, He enables us to make something beautiful…to give back to Him.

We are creative because He is Creator.
We are able to make something beautiful because He is beautiful.
We shine so that we can spotlight Him.

The Creator God is in the life and heart of His children.
His Image is showcased in and through His creatures.

True creativity.