“She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.” “In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.” “She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple.” “She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.”
(Proverbs 31:13,19,22,24)
Have you ever walked into a friend’s beautifully done home and taking a look at it all, you concluded you were incapable of such creativity?
That was me, several years ago.
My friend’s home was exquisitely done. A close look at her décor though revealed that she hadn’t beautified it with out-of-this-world items. Her décor consisted of readily available things she’d worked with to bring out an intricately designed home.
I was so intimidated by her level of creativity that I settled it in my heart that I was not creative. Some must be endowed with this kind of creativity while others are not. I’m probably one of those that are not endowed. I thought to myself.
Well, is that true? That I’m not creative?
The Proverbs 31 passage continues to be the prototype and standard to which godly women can look, as they trust God to make them into the women, he wants them to be.
Part of what a Christian woman can trust God for is that she would flourish in her creativity. Why?
The Proverbs 31 woman is creative.
This realization is what made me pray to God, from the depth of my heart, to work in me so that I would be creative.
God answered my prayer. My creativity may not be Pinterest or Instagram-worthy, it is sufficient to provide a beautiful environment for the purposes of God to thrive as we will see shortly from my definition of creativity.
I am convinced that God created each of us with what I’ll call creative ingenious.
God is perfectly creative. You don’t have to go very far away to the Swiss Alps, mount Everest, or Mount Kenya to behold God’s creativity.
A quick look around you at the beautiful exquisite flowers, or the variety of birds nestling on the trees, or the unique features and personalities of those around you reveal a creative God at work.
These are but a drop in the ocean of the examples of the creative work of our God.
By the mere fact that we are created in the image and likeness of the creative God, you and I are capable of being creative.
It may not be creativity as the world defines and sees it, it is creativity from God’s perspective.
The effects of the fall have distorted our creativity. As God works in us, we can be creative as he created and ordained us to be.
Definition:
I have defined creativity as:
Cooperating with God as I trust him to help me use my mind and the resources he has given me to bring out the best environment for ministry to those he brings my way.
From this definition, creativity should cover all aspects of one’s life and ministry. It is also unto God. It is about him and his glory.
Let’s not, therefore, limit our creativity to certain aspects of our lives.
Having said this, let’s now look at the 6 purposes of creativity.
- Providing a Conducive Environment for the Purposes of God to Thrive
I have had the awesome privilege of enjoying the hospitality of God’s people.
An aspect of this hospitality, such as the one I mentioned as I began this post, comes to mind now.
I even find this aspect demonstrated in the Scriptures through the story of Elisha the prophet and the Shunamite woman in 2Kings 4:8-10.
She provides a room with a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp for Elisha. This is so that every time the prophet was in that vicinity, he had a place to lay his head and to rest.
My friend’s house, the one I referred to as I begun the blog post, is a home one can find a restful environment in which to reflect and recharge so as to function better when one is exhausted.
As a matter of fact, we’d just been on an engaging mission activity. We landed at her home for an overnight stay.
We were able to start our journey home the next day quite refreshed.
Come to think of it: Is that why most of us will run off to a retreat center to rest because we are looking for an environment such as my friend’s house to relax in?
What about food preparation where a little creativity can turn an otherwise dull uninteresting meal into one that everyone enjoys?
At the root of all this creativity is going beyond the décor, or the food to the heart of the one receiving our ministry.
The environment facilitates the ministry in such a way that the heart is made ready to receive what God has in store.
- Creativity Enhances Thriftiness and Simplicity:
We are living in challenging times economically. You and I could do with some careful use of our money or resources.
Jesus demonstrated this so well when after feeding the over five thousand people, he told the disciples in John 6:12b:
“Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.”
One of the ways of being frugal is by being creative with what have.
Rather than buy what we need, we can prayerfully look around us and trust God to creatively make do with what we already have.
A few years ago, I did a friend’s wedding cake. She wanted the rugged look to her cake and décor.
What this meant was that she also needed rugged cake stands.
For some reason, I found out too late that my cake stands were not what she wanted. She was however willing to go with the stands now that I hadn’t known early enough.
I thought of how I was going to disappoint my friend on her special day and I didn’t fancy the thought at all.
I prayed and went looking around me. Thankfully, we live in the countryside. There were some old logs lying around our compound. They would most likely end up being used as firewood.
God gave me an idea. With my husband’s help, we packed up two of the logs in the car and took them to our local carpenter. This was a day to the wedding.
I showed him how to work on the stands and to apply some vanish for a glossy finish.
The next day, on my way to deliver the cake, I picked the stands from him, got to the wedding reception venue, and arranged the cakes on my newly done stands. My friend was elated.
I was grateful for creativity.
We’re beneficiaries of many innovations by mankind. These have made our work easier as men and women have creatively worked to make appliances. Some have created systems by which our work has been made easier so we can accomplish more.
Remember, we don’t have to go out of our way. We can simplify our lives and processes to reach the same goal without spending so much just to create a beautiful environment around us.
In case you’re wondering if you are creative, pray. God will work in you. You will be surprised at how creative you will be.
- Creativity Helps Save Time and Resources:
Just thinking about this purpose brings to mind the words in Ephesians 5:15-16:
“See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
It pleases God when we make the most of every opportunity, saving on time and resources.
Going by my example of the rugged cake stands, it would have costed me a fortune to hire the rugged cake stands.
I would have used so much more money working with a carpenter in town rather than one in the village.
Yes, I had to explain what I wanted because the carpenter had never seen such stands. It took him minutes though, to understand what I was saying and to turn my old logs into beautiful cake stands.
Whatever area of life that your hospitality will cover, for instance, you might save yourself loads of cash by applying some creativity there too.
Making your own food creatively at home rather than eating out might make a huge difference on your food budget. At least I know it does for me.
Food preparation and service is one area that will save you resources when you learn to work with the ingredients you might be having in the pantry to come up with a finger-licking delicious recipe.
Many of the recipes on this website and on our YouTube Channel have come out of my pantry as I waited to restock it, or during those very low seasons financially.
I make my own hair. Kinky African hair isn’t easy to manage. I have learned to creatively manage my hair for instance by adopting a neat but rugged look that takes me less than five minutes to work with.
This is another area that creativity continues to help me save money and resources.
You have those areas that God might be pointing to as you read this that need you to apply some creativity. Trust him to lead you so that you can save on resources that can be put to alternative use in these tough economic times.
- Creativity Enhances Wholeness Spiritually, Physically and Mentally:
Creativity can be therapeutic.
The environment in the beautiful Garden of Eden, where God would fellowship with man in the cool of the day, before the fall, must have been deeply satisfying and relaxing.
I will often experience little snatches of the kind of calm environment Adam and Eve might have experienced when I am in a beautiful creatively done environment.
Also, creativity will often cause us to think, reflect and work with our hands to create something as it were, that will be beneficial to us and those around us.
I often find this process of working on something with my hands very calming and soothing.
Seeing a completed project can be very fulfilling.
When a human being experiences these emotions, it enhances the feeling of knowing one is doing important work for the benefit not only of oneself but also of others.
It is also God’s will for us to be busy, working with our hands. When we do this, we are doing God’s will. In doing God’s will, we will find fulfillment in that.
Not only is our physical faculty engaged, but our mental faculty is also involved as we engage our mind in thinking and decision-making as we work on a particular project for instance.
Spiritually, I personally pray through many of the projects I am trusting God to work on that I know need me to be creative. This works positively on my relationship with God as he works in me, enabling me to be creative.
- Creativity Helps us Create a Beautiful Environment around us:
I am reminded of the creation story.
God creates a beautiful world out of one that was formless and empty.
Being God, he simply declares: Let there be… and there was.
The Scriptures then tells us that God saw all that he had made and it was very good. (Genesis 1:31)
Actually, chapters one and two of Genesis in the Bible go into greater detail about how God did this.
I believe he has endowed us with the same inborn desire to want to see beauty and order around us.
You and I will often work hard to ensure that those around us get to enjoy a beautiful environment.
I think of a mom whose routine involves picking up toys with her young ones, cleaning the house, working on the dishes, and the like to ensure her home is lovely.
The God-given creativity in us is what causes us to want this kind of environment around us that we can delight in.
In spite of the effects of the fall where we will sometimes keep doing this over and over again because of our limitations, to keep our surroundings orderly, we keep at it because this kind of environment enhances our productivity as well as a sense of purpose and fulfillment.
- Creativity Displays the Beauty and the Glory of God:
This final purpose crowns all the others that I’ve mentioned. All things serve God. (Psalm 119:91) They are for his glory, including our creativity.
The opening verses of Psalm 19 begin with these words:
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.”
The subsequent verses then describe the sun and it’s beauty.
God’s beautiful creation is declaring his glory. The glory of the one who created it.
We are declaring God’s glory, when we use the creative faculty he has endowed us with to creatively think, speak forth, and work with our hands to create something beautiful.
When we are creative, we’re glorifying God. When we come up with something beautiful out of what he has provided or placed around us, we’re glorifying him. I believe this makes God glad.
I know the garden of Eden was a beautiful place to be. It did not only make man glad to be in such a wonderful place, I believe it pleased God to create this kind of environment for man to live in.
One of my favorite environments to relax in are those with well-manicured lawns and gardens, that will easily cost a fortune just to be there.
Many of us have found rest in that kind of environment.
Creating a beautiful environment around you is one of the ways one can provide a conducive environment for ministry to happen to others in a more fruitful way and hence bring glory to their Maker.
It is to his glory that God enables you and me to be creative. We are pleasing him because we are portraying his nature.
I hope you will constantly remember that God made you to be creative. Trust him to work towards enhancing your creativity. This blog post here should probably be your next read as you think about enhancing your creativity. I trust this one too will be a blessing.