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.
Quick answer: Ephesians 2:10 says we are God’s work of art, created for “good works” God has already prepared for us. Those good works are often simple, creative acts: gardening, painting, cooking, writing, making. Expressing them is closely tied to mental wellness, and for many people who carry trauma, it becomes part of how healing happens.
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 to. 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?
In this post
- Does My Small Life Matter?
- You Are God’s Work of Art
- Created for Good Works
- Sarah’s Story: Healing Through Creativity
- The Creators’ Corner
Does My Small Life Matter?
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, 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.
You Are 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.
created in Christ Jesus
for the good works
which God has already designated
to make up our way of life.
Ephesians 2:10 (New Jerusalem Bible)
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 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.” For the apostle Paul, that fruitful labour was a reason to keep living even in his darkest moments.
It could be in the job a person has, but even more so in other areas of their life. It could be in their writing, music, painting, preparing of meals, gardening, knitting, sewing, dance, interior or exterior design, or the 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. As C.S. Lewis put it, there are no ordinary people, and creativity needs an outlet.
Sarah’s Story: Healing Through Creativity
Sarah was self-destructing. A lifetime of abuse had left her feeling completely empty and hollow. Married and with children, it felt to her like she was simply there to be everyone’s servant, or more so a slave.
As we talked, I asked her about any hobbies and crafts she had. She said that when she was young and at school, she loved to paint, and that she had a special eye for colours and texture.
She especially enjoyed making cards and decorating them with special lettering, using different colours and fonts, and 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. (If this sounds familiar, here is how to handle people who rain on your parade.)
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, having a huge social media following, driving a Ferrari, and so on. No, she simply keeps on doing her art, doing her “good works” and filling her world with gifts.
It’s interesting to note that as her creativity came to express itself, the shadow of the traumas she had experienced seemed to lose some of their power. She had a new perspective on life and a new focus. Healing was happening through her art.
The Creators’ Corner
So I have created a special place on this website for people to express their “good works.”
I’ve called it the Creators’ Corner, and it’s where you can share your writing, painting, photography, poetry, music, gardening, illustrations, craft, metal, wood, clay, cotton, silk, cakes, cookies and more.
Your expression of God’s creativity in you.
Visit the Creators’ Corner and share your good work.
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. Dr. Seuss
- 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
- Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought. Albert Szent-Györgyi
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 from being creative? Other people’s opinions? Past experiences?
Formation Exercise
- Do something creative this week. It could be anything at all: sing, dance, bake, write, build, plant, sow, paint. Journal about what you have created, or email me about what you made.
Further Reading
- There are No ‘Ordinary People’. Creativity needs an Outlet. — Discover the divine spark within. Inspired by C.S. Lewis, explore how embracing your unique creativity is key to mental health and faith.
- How to Handle People Who Rain on Your Parade — Don’t let criticism dry up your creative spark. Learn why it happens and how to dance through it anyway.
- For your Mental Health Co-Create with God — You may feel alone, but you have a purpose, and that is to co-create with God, so lets L.O.F.O. when we co-create we build hope
- Why Paul’s ‘Fruitful Labor’ is a Great Antidote to Suicide — In the darkest moments, the Apostle Paul found a reason to live. Discover how “fruitful labor” and an others-centered life can be an antidote to despair
- The Self I Imagined and the Self God Loves — Daydreams of a better you reveal a longing to be loved. Discover how God delights in the real you, just as you are.
- Why Was I Even Born? — When life hits a brick wall, the question arises: Why was I born? Explore the dark hole of soul pain with Job, Jeremiah, and Jesus.
About the Author
Since 1995, Barry Pearman has worked as a mental health support worker, community chaplain, and pastor, and has walked through depression himself. His training includes SoulCare Foundations under Dr Larry Crabb, a Bachelor of Applied Theology, spiritual direction training, and certificates in CBT interventions, pastoral therapy, and integrated mental health care. Turning the Page offers a grace-filled path to mental wholeness through faith and hope.
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
