It wasn’t random. It wasn’t chance. It wasn’t the roll of some celestial dice or the flip of a coin. Your creation was part of a work of art God has had in mind for all eternity.
I know that’s hard to believe. It seems so vast, immeasurable, and beyond understanding. Mysterious and complex beyond anyone’s ability to grasp into everyday sentences.
If that is true, which I truly believe it is, then why was I created?
I wonder, I pray, I scratch my head and hold the questions up to God.
People send me questions that I in myself don’t have neat, tidy answers. Well, maybe I do, but they probably won’t satisfy or salve a hurting soul.
The recurring answer goes something like this.
We are broken people living in a broken world where broken world decisions and choices are made, but God is in the business of making all things new, so we pray, trust, and hope.
Is that broad enough to envelop your situation?
Does it give you a glimmer of presence in your loneliness?
Why Was I Created?
In the depth of pain, we wonder if there is a purpose to our existence.
In our smallness, we ask if we matter at all.
Can I, in my millimetre life experience, make a difference?
I was looking in the garden yesterday at an area that a year ago was empty of plant life.
A year ago I planted it full of Clivia, one of my favourite plants because of its lush green leaves and brilliant spring red flowers.
Those little plants are now established. They are still small, but some of them are flowering, giving me a vision of what will be.
I already have an established area, and they are in full bloom. Filling the space with colour and life.
I envision that in a couple of years, with the nurture of watering, weeding and feeding that this whole area will become full of colour.
Will I get to see it? Maybe, or it might be a gift for future garden artists to be inspired by.
In ten years’ time, no one will probably know who had the vision of this portrait of eden, but the beauty of this art will hopefully still shine on.
God’s work of art
Why was I created?
There is a beautiful work of art verse written by the artist Paul to some people living in the city of Ephesus.
We are God’s work of art,
created in Christ Jesus
for the good works
which God has already designated
to make up our way of life. Ephesians 2:10
What thoughts and feelings get generated when you read you are ‘God’s work of art’?
A dismissal of yourself?
A scoffing of God’s artistic ability?
A rejection and even a pushing away of love?
Remember that how you see God influences how you see everything.
Are you shaking your fist at God with anger?
Perhaps you’re laughing with delight at the wonder of God’s creative choices!
Created for Good Works
We were created for good works.
That word ‘work’ in the original Greek is the word ‘ergon’ which means task, employment; a deed, action; that which is wrought or made, a work.
What is your ‘good work’?
What tasks, employment, deeds and actions do you involve yourself in?
I firmly believe that there is a close tie between a person’s mental wellness and their expression of a ‘good work.’
It could be in the job they have, but even more so in other areas of of their lives. It could be in their writing, music, painting, preparing of meals, gardening, knitting, sewing, dance, interior/ exterior design, restoration of old houses, cars and bikes.
The list is endless as to the ‘good works’ God has set before us to complete.
We are a creative creation reflecting the creative nature of God. When we are not expressive, something is not fully God alive in us.
Sarah’s story
Sarah was self destructing. A lifetime of abuse had left her feeling completely empty and hollow. Married and with children, it felt like for her she was simply there to be everyone’s servant, or more so a slave.
As we talked, I asked her any about hobbies and crafts that has. She said that when she was young and at school, she loved to paint. That she has a special eye for colours and texture.
She especially enjoyed making cards and decorating them with special lettering. Using different colours and fonts. Adding paper flowers and sparkles.
As she told me, I could see something come alive in her. It was like I had ignited a flame and it was glowing with excitement.
But then she told me about how it had been shut down in her. Family members had critiqued her ‘good work’ with advice and suggestions instead of encouragement and soul care. Their words echoed the abuse of others.
I encouraged her art. It had to come out. The world needed and longed for it.
Gradually, her ‘good work’ got more elaborate and overwhelmingly beautiful. This growth in confidence and hope spilled over to other areas of her life.
This is not one of those stories where it ends with her selling her artwork all over the world, has a huge social media following, drives a Ferrari etc. No, she simply keeps on doing her art, doing her ‘good work’s’ and filling her world with gifts.
It’s interesting to note that as her creativity came to express itself, the shadow of the traumas experienced seemed to lose some of their power. She had a new perspective on life and focus. Healing was happening through her art.
Creators’ Corner
So I have created a special place on this website for people to express their ‘Good works’
I’ve called it the creator’s corner and it’s where you can share your writing, painting, photography, poetry, music, gardening, illustrations, craft, metal, wood, clay, cotton, silk, cakes, cookies etc …..
Your expression of God’s creativity in you.
Check out the page here. Creators’ Corner
Quotes to consider
- One will never have joy if you are only looking at what you are meant to be able to do. Dan Allender
- Today you are You. That is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.
- We rob ourselves of immeasurable joy when we compare what we do know about ourselves with what we don’t know about someone else. Rob Bell
- Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up. Anne Lamott
- It is one thing to endure the years of discipline that it takes to learn a craft, and then to put paint on paper in new and creative ways. That might, in some cases, rise to great art. We have to know the rules before we can break the rules. “Breaking the rules,” after all, is often the source of genuine creativity and even genuine holiness. Richard Rohr. The Wisdom Pattern: Order, Chaos, Reorder.
- Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it. Madeleine L’Engle
- Creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no one else ever thought.” – Albert Einstein
Questions to answer
- Born to create. What thoughts come to you when you read you were born to create?
- Think of a time when you were creative. What were you doing and how did it make you feel?
- What stops or hinders you being creative? Other opinions? Past experiences?
Formation exercise
- Do something creative this week. It could be anything at all. Sing, dance, bake, write, build, plant, sow, paint etc. Journal about what you have created or email me barry@turningthepage.co.nz about it.
Further reading
Barry Pearman
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
