“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”
(Genesis 1:1–2 KJV)
I am a recovering materialaholic. Despite being a spirit man, with a reasonable grasp of the invisble realms that surround our every day, my life was piled high with stuff. Stuff outside, and stuff inside.
The mere thought of tackling the trashpile prevented me taking action for many years.
I have always been creative, from my toddler years with crayons on the kitchen floor next to mom, through to large conference opening night extravaganzas my wife and I directed. Certainly stuff won’t stop you creating, but it can clog the pipes if you want to go beyond doing and shift the focus to becoming.
I often say that God has a hard time getting the stuff He wants into ou hands beacuse our hands are already full of all the stuff we refuse to let go of.
Jesus spoke of the ‘poor in spirit’ inheriting the Kingdom (Matthew 5:3). Empty vessels ready to be filled.
I believe that the Spirit of God works best when His palette is uncluttered.
The Luxury of Time
In today’s driven culture the idea of space and time to just think and be is considered a luxury. To some it would be a crime to take a moment to set aside activity and intentionally slow down.
But time to be is not a luxury or an indulgence, it is an essential creative practice.
Imagine if you never stopped eating. You simply consumed mouthful after mouthful without respite. Yet we live in an information age where each individual receives more stimulation in any given 24 hour period than someone recived in a lifetime a century ago. Is it any wonder we feel overwhelmed?
You have the Holy Spirit living within you.
He has ideas and genuine God breathed inspirations to share with you.
He wants to move on the waters of your life and bring miracles into being.
When was the last time you cleared the decks to allow Him room to do so? God-initiated ideas that begin with His blessing are so much more effective than merely good ideas that we then ask Him to bless.
Freed from Tyranny
A favorite concept, one I come back to again and again, is the reality that the urgent often seeks to hijack the important from our lives.
We live demanding lives. Bills need to be paid, relationships tended, information consumed, items bought, houses decorated, lessons learned, activities accomplished and acheivements and accolades accumulated.
Every day is littered with tasks that demand to be done NOW! NOW! NOW!
How many of your well intentioned creative days have been hijacked by the idea that you better quickly check Facebook or your email before you begin?
Good intentions and hopeful dreams are no match for the unrelenting insisitence of daily demands.
All the while the important things remain stalled or untended. The important things that are inessential to us making it through the day, but are actually integral to building the future we desire.
Only by a force of intense will and decision do we begin to turn the ships wheel from the default setting to the destiny directive.
What do you dream of being?
A writer? Is writing the very top priority for you each day, before the urgent minions eat up the best hours?
A musician? Practice is not an option, it is an essential.
Whatever your disciple and your delight, a wholehearted commitemnt to bump it to the top of your to-do list on a daily basis is the only way to move forward to your goal.
Understand and live with the knowledge that the important and the urgent are often two very different things. Important things often bring a rich rewarding harvest over the long term. Urgent tasks can deliver a quick buzz of satisfaction, but their benefits dissipate just as rapidly.
Live with your long term goals in mind, and make moments each day to put time, attention and passion to work toward them.
