Recently at a Museum of The Bible event in Washington, D.C., I was invited to participate in a painting class. When I first saw the class being offered on the schedule, I was a bit hesitant, if not intimidated. I hadn’t painted anything since the 3rdgrade. I consider myself a fairly creative person, having worked as an actress in Hollywood and producing media projects for many years with Cooke Media Group. The thought of being exposed as an inept artistic painter, perhaps equal to being a musically tone-deaf individual, was petrifying. Nevertheless, I forced myself to go knowing, without question, that I’d embarrass myself.
Insecurity and fear keep people from achieving greatness more than anything else.
Fear robs us of God’s joy in allowing Himself to be exposed in new ways through our unique lives. When we step into the fear, we step away from areas that we’ve built around us as safety nets. By staying in those safe places, we rob ourselves of the freedom and purpose that God wants to bring into our lives. New environments and situations that we must depend on Him for to accomplish.
God made us each uniquely creative.
God introduced Himself to us as a creator in the first chapter of the Bible in Genesis 1:1. The path or direction we choose with a project may often be completely different from that of our peers. That can often be scary. The projects we produce, or the business choices we make, are painted with many colors and many kinds of strokes. We see images differently, so why do we expect that the way we approach a project must be what everyone is doing? God wants us to take our unique colors and create something that’s never been seen before. When we do, we expose the beauty of walking in God’s creativity. But to do this, we must fight off the fear and insecurity of being different. We must often expose ourselves to criticism and opposition.
It’s courageous choices that God is looking for us to take.
As I stepped into my fear with a paintbrush in hand at the event, I was surprised as I painted on my canvas how peaceful I felt. The angst I had about attempting the class melted away. The joy and fun of expressing myself and creating something new brought a new perspective. What had been fearful and a challenge to me initially brought fulfillment – a higher lesson. Finding out that in my inadequacies, God was working and creating a new piece of art. His pleasure working in me brought me overwhelming joy.
God places unique creativity in you. He wants you to walk in fearless joy.
As I participated in the class that day and watched fellow classmates follow the encouraging instructor, everyone’s cherry blossom painting (the image we’d been instructed to paint) began to take on a different and unique shape. Some were different colors, shapes, and sizes, but all had a beauty and individual perspective.
I am not ready to quit my day job to become a painter just yet, but He taught me a valuable insight. He taught me yet again that He uses the beauty of our individuality to accomplish His purpose. Our choice is to first choose. Choose to step out of the fear and insecurity.
Where is God telling you to trust Him and to paint your unique picture?
