Create.

I come from a long linage of artists. Paint seems to run through the veins of both my mother and father's side. I did not get this gene. I would look through lenses green with envy at the effortless sketches that would flow from the pen of those around me. My attempts were forced, spotted with my desire to create an image different than what I was.

This past year I realized, I'm no artist, and that's okay. I will pursue the image I was created in. I will allow the Spirit of the Lord to guide my expression verse trying to force an unnatural emotion. This expression often found it's way through my relationships, cooking, and style. The array of my actions made up who I was.

During my Studying and Teaching the Bible class second semester, a group was presenting and in participation we had to draw a picture of what the 1 Thessalonian 4:1-12 passage meant to us. While I had an image in mind, I had no idea how I could recreate what exemplified my interpretation. I placed the pen on the paper, and the color started to glide effortlessly. I looked down at what I had designed and felt like the 6 year old who wanted to show everyone what she had just created. 

As soon as I had given up my dream to create, God re-installed a genuine heart to express my faith. This is something I can not force, but rather I must simply offer up my time and a blank piece of paper.  

Today I sat with the girl I mentor and told her today we are going to read Proverbs 16. As we read, I asked her what stuck out most and she replied "verse 9" 

The mind of man plans his way,

But the Lord directs his steps.

I then asked her to draw what it meant her. We spent the next 2 hours with gel pen in hand sketching. I was honored to see how liberating it was for her to contemplate and allow God to speak her fears through the bold colors, small images, and influential verse. This was beautiful. It radiated a beauty that was raw, and natural. It wasn't forced, but unraveled many thoughts that appeared to complex for understanding. 

I'm not going to say that everyone was created to reveal God's glory through art, but I will say that "Everyone who is called by My name, And whom I have created for My glory, Whom I have formed, even whom I have made" is created to express God's goodness in a way that is effortless. (Isaiah 43:7)