Creativity vs Fear

Yo - I've just been thinking a lot recently about creativity and fear.

I believe everyone has been made with a unique gift of creativity however sometimes we are so driven by fear (afraid of what people will say and think, afraid of what will happen) that we take the creativity that God has given us and hide it, bury it, ignore it.

I know the creativity that God has given us can change the world and I believe it is our job to rediscover that creativity.

I've been thinking a bit about the parable of the talents and about the poor wee servant (who I've always felt sorry for) who buried his talent because as the Bible says, he was 'afraid'.

You see I have a hunch. My hunch is that you are an incredibly creative person. But I have a concern that we might have taken our creativity, our Talent and like the servant in the story, become afraid and hidden it, buried it. Buried it as if it was dead. Imagne that…people like us – you and me – ordinary people who have been given incredible gifts of creativity, who have somehow become afraid and have buried our gifts as if they were dead.

Creativity is an incredibly powerful thing! Creativity has changed the course of history. Creativity is one of the foundations of this world. Think about it, the first verse in the Bible states: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Later it says ‘God created man in his image’. We are created in the image of the most creative being. We are created in the image of the most creative mind ever to exist. I think God must have a really big brain!

Try to imagine a world without creativity: no paintings, no art, no design, no poetry or literature, no drama or acting, no great speeches, no medicine, no construction or architecture, no great leadership, no good foreign policies, no good economic policies, no advances in science….and the list goes on.

The world can be changed through creativity. Creativity is powerful.

If the world can be changed through creativity what are we doing about it? In church what are we doing to genuinely support, foster and encourage peoples creativity? Not just in music and the arts. In education what are we doing? Imaging having an education system that wasn’t predominently driven by grades, results and curriculum. How can we find space in education to allow young people to walk in creativity? Sometimes we fear creativity cos it means something might have to change. I want to encourage anyone who is involved in education to find ways of supporting young people's creativity. If a young person has an idea, where do they go to? If they have a dream, where do they go? Let us be the ones who support them.

And here you are. An incredibly creative person and I want to ask the question how are you using your creativity to change the world? Are your decisions driven by fear – are you afraid like the servant in the parable or are you courageous enough to be creative?

Because creativity is about courage. The opposite of fear is courage.

I have struggled with fear all my life. I have let fear be one of the main drivers of the decisions I have made. When I became a Christian the first verses someone prophesied over me were from Josh 1 “don’t be afraid or discouraged but be strong or courageous”. You know what I discovered? You can actually be productive when you operate from a place of fear but your productivity will only reach a certain limit – you will never do all that you are meant to do or become all you are meant to become. Plus you will change your mind a lot. You will have a nagging sense of what you are meant to do, something will remind you but you will always find an excuse, you will always find a reason not to fulfill your calling

Recently I have had a bit of a change. Something has happened to me. I have put my foot down and said ‘NO!’. I will not be driven by fear. I will walk in courage and let my creativity shine. It wont be buried any more.

You have been made deliberately to be a wonderfully creative person. And do you know what the really great thing is? God has given you all the resources that you need to succeed. Everything that you require to fulfill Gods purposes has already been deposited in you – you already have all you need. And you are the one who is driving the bus! What do I mean by that statement? Well obviously God is involved in our lives however there is a certain time that comes when God hands responsibility over to us. He puts the responsibility firmly in our hands and lets us drive the bus. In other words, it is up to us! This is it! The world is changed by people like us. And you know what the great thing is about that? It means that we don’t need to waste our energy any more in blaming other people or God. You know the way we sometimes say “It’s their fault or your fault that I havent become all I was meant to be” or “It is someone elses responsibility that I havent fulfilled my calling.” I acknowledge that some people are very broken and that they need support however we sometimes put ourselves at the effect side of the equation rather than the cause – we make ourselves become like ships on the seas that are rudderless – we have no direction and we get pushed and battered by the wind and the waves rather than determining a direction and getting there despite the weather. THIS IS NOT GODS PLAN FOR US.

God wants us to walk in courage and rediscover our creativity. We have one chance. We have one life on this world. This is it. If you are not already aware, you are living your only life right now. What are your desires. What are your dreams and goals? What are your creative ideas? What do you want to contribute to this world? God is saying that you don’t have to fit, you don’t have to fit into everyone elses model of the world, that you just need to be who He’s called you to be.

Don't be afraid. Be creative.