So, I am still working on my painting. You can see what it looked like eight days ago by clicking here. Here is what it looks like this morning:
Totally different from before. I had no idea where the painting was going when I started -- even a few days in I didn't know. I think I know how it is going to end now. I'm hoping to be done with it sometime next week.
It's fun to let a work lead you. It will surprise you. It will frustrate you. It will make you laugh. It will fill you full of meaning. It will make you pause. It will make you slow down. It will make you thankful. It might even make you mad or sad. Letting a work lead you is kind of like life. At least I think it's how life is meant to be.
It's fun to let a work lead you. It will surprise you. It will frustrate you. It will make you laugh. It will fill you full of meaning. It will make you pause. It will make you slow down. It will make you thankful. It might even make you mad or sad. Letting a work lead you is kind of like life. At least I think it's how life is meant to be.
Last week in Bible study at church we talked about creativity and The Creator and how God is constantly creative, not only when He creates (which is constant), but also when He relates with and responds to and leads us. He wants this kind of creative thinking for us too. When He says in Isaiah 55:8, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways" I believe He is contrasting our tendency to be rigid in thoughts and ways with His free Creative thought and ways. I'm sure you've heard before, "You can't put God in a box."
This is what we do when we expect life to go our way. We get rigid in thought and ways when we see ourselves as the center of life and want everything to go our way. When things don't and when others don't act the way we want them to we create drama in our lives. You know -- that bad drama that is rampant all over social media outlets and across news channels and reality shows and wherever else media is. Oh yes! Even at work -- really anywhere there is a bunch of people. It's because most people aren't thinking creatively. They are seeing life through a rigid set of rules they want to go by. Seeing life through a rigid mindset is easier short-term, but it causes pain and disappointment and frustration. And it sucks the fun and adventure out of life for sure!
What if we lived life like the process the painting above is going through? What if, when something happens, we didn't expect we go with it? Maybe we could say, "Okay God, this surprised me and I'm not sure I like it much, but I'm going to see what You do in this situation. I'm going to see how You work it all out. I'm going to see how You bring people to you through it."
If we know Him we can hold onto the promise found in Romans 8:28. It says, "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."
Sure, life is hard. Of course we will be sad and mad and discouraged and even desperate at times. Of course we will face death and find ourselves grieving. We will deal with a lot of bad stuff the longer we live. But if we allow God to help us see things through His creativity, it makes things sweeter and better. And they might make us sweeter and better too.
This is what we do when we expect life to go our way. We get rigid in thought and ways when we see ourselves as the center of life and want everything to go our way. When things don't and when others don't act the way we want them to we create drama in our lives. You know -- that bad drama that is rampant all over social media outlets and across news channels and reality shows and wherever else media is. Oh yes! Even at work -- really anywhere there is a bunch of people. It's because most people aren't thinking creatively. They are seeing life through a rigid set of rules they want to go by. Seeing life through a rigid mindset is easier short-term, but it causes pain and disappointment and frustration. And it sucks the fun and adventure out of life for sure!
What if we lived life like the process the painting above is going through? What if, when something happens, we didn't expect we go with it? Maybe we could say, "Okay God, this surprised me and I'm not sure I like it much, but I'm going to see what You do in this situation. I'm going to see how You work it all out. I'm going to see how You bring people to you through it."
If we know Him we can hold onto the promise found in Romans 8:28. It says, "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."
Sure, life is hard. Of course we will be sad and mad and discouraged and even desperate at times. Of course we will face death and find ourselves grieving. We will deal with a lot of bad stuff the longer we live. But if we allow God to help us see things through His creativity, it makes things sweeter and better. And they might make us sweeter and better too.
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