Hi fam! The Backstory. We are both choreographers, so we chatted a little about what's going on with our artmaking. Since we last spoke, both of us finished graduate school, so we talked about that. And we were both interested in what was going on in each other's countries---so we talked, and laughed, and gasped, and exhaled, and rolled our eyes a lot about that. We wanted to end the conversation on a happy note, so she began to share a vision the Lord laid on her heart for retreats and gathering people together. As she continued sharing, she mentioned a verse that was stirring in her spirit about repairing desolate places and rebuilding ruined cities. I told her that was one of the verses I had in my prayer list for artists. As we continued talking about repairing and rebuilding, I told her about an interview I was listening to on NPR about the housing crisis. I was particularly drawn to the end of the interview, where the man was saying that the true, needle-moving solutions to the housing crisis were most likely going to come from the local level and work up to the federal level. They would not be something federally established and passed down to the local level because of all the various laws and restrictions that locally govern how things are built. Now to you. 1 The power of local solutions 2 Why cry to Me...move forward despite the feeling of increasing impossibility all around us every day, despite being surrounded by things that would reasonably make you say it is impossible to do what God is telling me to do right now--- I thought about the children of Israel when they were fleeing Egypt, running from Pharoah's army, and they got to the Red Sea. They came to this impossible situation where they had the Egyptians behind them, the mountains surrounding them, and the Red Sea in front of them. They get scared and cry out to God. Moses even gave them a pep talk. And in Exodus 14:15, God replies, "Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward." It is God's disposition that is so striking to me, and the disposition He requires His people to have if we are going to fully come into what He has for us. I can imagine Him saying, "I see what's going on. But that ain't got nothing to do with Me, or what I'm telling you to do. I am not limited by this stuff going on. And as My child, I'm trying to get you to see you aren't either. Move forward!" Such an expectation is admittedly daunting. It's frightening and disorienting sometimes. But that's our Dad. That is the God we serve. Each of us are in a moment of decision. We are filled with gifts, carrying visions that serve, rebuild, and repair. And in the midst of all that is going on, amidst the increasing temptation to feel things are hopeless or impossible, our God is demanding that each of us answer some questions: Is anything too difficult for Me (Jer. 32:27, Gen. 18:14) Is My hand too short to redeem you? Or do I lack the strength to deliver you? (Isa. 50:2) He's looking for us to be/become fully convinced that He is able to keep His word and do what He promised (Rom. 4:21) and to move forward! I've been praying about navigating this balance for myself: of being informed, but not caught up, overcome or swept away by. I want to be informed of what's going on. But I don't want the way I manage that information to get in the way of my conviction that with God, all things are possible, that His word never fails, and that, despite anything going on in the world around me, He is a God who completes the things He begins. And that's a balance we all have to navigate in our own way. Each of us has to make a choice. Are we going to trust the God we serve, or will we be stalled, stopped, or paralyzed by these circumstances we see? I know what's going on. But move forward in that creative vision, my friend! A lot of times, when we think about doing things for God, we start with these massive visions that take over the world, often to the neglect of the local and personal. But artists and beavers thrive in local restoration, don't we? Transforming a building at a time, a block or community at a time, an ecosystem at a time, a lake at a time. I want to encourage you in that vision that the Lord is giving you and encourage you to choose His word and faithfulness over the situations that you see, because He is the Lord who preserves and provides His people in famine (Ps. 33:18-19, Ps. 37:18-19). We might see the world around us breaking out in a recession or struggling with lack. But when you put your trust in God, He will lead you to provision. Amen! Blessings, and see you next month.
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Welcome to the Kingdom Artist Institute Newsletter
Join us as we explore what it means to live, walk, work, and create as artists in God's kingdom. Each month, we explore how our relationship with God shapes the ways we build our creative careers, businesses, and practices in the marketplace.