Creative

 God is the original Creator. He created with just His spoken word and imagination. He created within human beings the capacity, desire, and inspiration to also create. They may be limited unlike God in their creations. They do it many different genres. 

The painter takes oils, paints, and canvas. They paint vivid scenery from nature or their own imagination. They capture moods with colors. Like pain, despair, joy and delight. Their tools are brushes, paints, and canvases or paper. They can get lost for hours in their creative genius. History celebrates such artists. Their magnificent works outlive them. My favorite painter is Thomas Kincaid. I have stood in an art gallery mesmerized by his paintings for hours taking in every hidden detail. He brilliantly used light in his works through the sun or moon. 

There are other artists who use hammers and chisels to sculpt. Others sculpt with their hands at the pottery wheel. They are able to see something beauty in the mundane. They skillfully and delicately work to bring the beauty out for the rest of us to see. They are able to see it before any of us do. They create beautiful statutes and pottery. That is a creative talent to see beauty in things most others ignore. Their creativity has blessed multitudes.

There are creative people who sit at a computer or drawing desk and design houses and commercial buildings. They make them both beautiful and functional. They dream up designs that have never been created before making each building unique. Some buildings are simple and others are ornate. Each is a creative marvel. Building an idea from raw materials into something people get to enjoy. Like churches, schools, businesses, restaurants and homes. 

Some people create with spices, meats, dough, and vegetables to cook delicacies that make the taste buds dance in delight. They are great in the kitchen. Whether baking, grilling, frying, sautéing or basting, they create dishes that dazzle and that drive our taste senses to their heights of pleasure. Such people find great pleasure in sharing creations with others. It is a labor of love. 

Some are able to sit down at an instrument to create pleasant notes, melodies, crescendos, and chords making music. Some do it through the instrument of their voice. Others use pianos, guitars, flutes, trumpets, saxophones, drums, and violins to create sounds that whisk people away from the mundane monotony of life. They create sounds of music to be enjoyed by different types of people from different walks of life. It is joyful to hear worship music that exalts God and praises Him. How thankful we are for creative music. 

I am not gifted in any of those areas. I never enjoyed art in school. I actually failed wood shop in junior high school. I am not gifted with my hands. Hammers and saws are not my preferred tools. Neither are wrenches or screwdrivers. I am not able to play any instrument. God called and gifted me to create in another way. 

My tools are legal pads, pens, and computers. I work with words to capture thoughts, to paint scenes in writings, to instruct, inspire, sway opinions and encourage people with ink on a page or words on a screen. I construct with words. I paint with nouns, verbs and adjectives. I sculpt with scriptures. I create with language. I marinate and sauté in thoughts that gel into savory sentences. It is a creative craft I adore. I can get lost in it forgetting time for hours on end. 

Some people write to live. They pump out material to earn a living learning to perfect their profession. I live to write. It is the one chance I have to be creative. To paint, build, construct and create something for others to enjoy. 

What might God use you to create for others to enjoy? What special talent, gift, or unique ability do you have just waiting to be discovered by others. It took me decades before I ever shared my craft with the world. I did not want to be rejected. I know I often make mistakes in these blogs no matter how I try to proof them before posting. I have determined not to let my lack of perfection to hinder me from creating. I know some posts are more valuable than others. Sometimes there are dry spells when there is little to no creativity. I am blessed to be inspired by others creative genius. 

How can you be used in some way to inspire others around you? I am sure there is a way. Maybe in the machine shop or the wood shop. Perhaps in the kitchen. Maybe around the table telling stories. Possibly with your hands in painting or voice in singing. Perhaps over a sewing machine. Wherever God gifted you to be creative, I exhort you to use it for the glory of God and the enjoyment of others.