There’s nothing wrong with being creative. I have been blessed enough to earn a living by being creative. Some people would call creativity as coloring outside the lines…maybe thinking outside the box or being able to come up with things that others may not even think about! I think creativity is best described as having the courage to do or make something that goes against the norm. As I was painting today, I had sketched a letter out with a pencil on a piece of wood I would be painting. I used a stencil because I wanted the lines to be exact. I don’t always use pre-sketched lines…sometimes I go right to painting and fix my mistakes as I go. However, when I am painting something that needs to be precise, I want to make sure and give myself some lines to go by. This way I know it will be right. When I do that, I don’t have to worry about trying to fix my mistakes after the fact…I can stay within the parameters that have been outlined for me. It protects me from having to go back and do extra work and clean up more messes than were necessary. The best part is that after a few times of using a template for something, I end up not having to refer back to it because I have trained my hands and eyes to do it automatically.
As I was getting next to that pencil line with my paintbrush, it was so easy to stay exactly where I needed to be on that piece of wood, because I had a guide for my paintbrush to follow. In doing this, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart. I was reminded that those sketched out lines aren’t to hinder me from being creative, they are just to keep me from painting outside the lines. I am still making something with each stroke of my paintbrush. I was reminded of the scripture in 2 Timothy 3:16 that says:
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
The world has pushed the notion that we need to “color outside the lines”, offered a “be who you want to be” mentality and served up a “rules were made to be broken” society all under the name of creativity and expression. In doing that, we have forgotten that we have a guide for living in the inspired Word of God. I am not trying to follow a set of rules, as I live in freedom through Christ…but I know that each time I read His Word, it is the guideline for keeping me IN Him. It helps me to avoid a lot of messes and mistakes. Again, like using a template for sketching my letters, the Bible trains me in righteousness so that I am equipped for every good work…and those words become hidden in my heart. When scripture is hidden in your heart, you aren’t cleaning up a mess of sin after mistakes that you made because you chose to override the voice of the Holy Spirit from within you. The Bible will keep you inside the lines, but still allowing you to flourish in who God created you to be. I believe we have become too comfortable with the splashing color outside the lines in the name of trying to make ourselves happy, instead of holy. It about being right with God.
We see what happened in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve chose to go outside the lines that God had drawn from them. They experienced shame and death, and live outside the Garden because they chose to look pass what all was available to them INSIDE the Garden. Looking outside the lines has been our downfall since the Garden, friend. Yet, God had a plan from that moment to reconcile us back to Him and the opportunity to know and experience everything that is available when we choose to abide IN Him!
I am so thankful for God’s Word. When I read its pages, I feel protected, encouraged and loved. I know I can live in the truth of being INSIDE the lines of scripture is the most beautiful thing ever! I have learned that being creative doesn’t mean I have to compromise or color outside the lines of the box that contains ALL God has for me on this side of eternity AND in heaven! I’m okay with having the courage to be different in Jesus’ name. It may not afford me a lot of things that this world values, but its riches are out of this world! I am work in progress and with each day as I walk with Him, He is making something beautiful IN me.
