For so long I have felt like there was one right way to meet with God. The early morning light and a Bible in hand were essential to make it work. The only real and right way to have quiet time and connect was to sit down first thing in the morning and write down my prayers and read the Bible. I spent many a day trying to get the formula just right, trying to perfect the quiet time I was expected to be having. And I have learned so much in the quiet moments I have spent with the Lord. But when sleep is lacking and time is short, I cut out those early morning moments and hope that my busy schedule has a place later on in the day for me to meet with Jesus.
But when does my schedule really have time to meet with the Lord? I have to make the time, and having to sit and focus when life seems to be swirling around has caused me to neglect my relationship with the Lord. When my quiet time has become another thing to check off the list, I realize that it has fallen short of what it has always meant to be, a way for me to connect with God on a deep soul level. A way for my spirit to communion with the spirit of God. And so I forgot that God meets us in so many different ways.
Over the course of the last two weeks God has presented me with different ways for my heart, mind, and body to connect with him. I have always loved art, and being creative in different ways. Being surrounded by artistic housemates and art supplies at every turn made me realize that I enjoyed spending time being creative. It was something I was willing to spend my limited time on.
In class we started talking about how being creative was a way to engage both your emotions and with God. God is a creator and we were made in his image, meaning that we are made to be creators. We connect with the Lord when we are creative, we were meant to create things. The things we create don’t have to be overtly artistic; they can be words, baking, building, etc. But when we create we open up the God spaces within in us and allow our souls to be exposed to the world around us.
The realization that I can commune with God through a paintbrush and not just through early morning quiet time changed how I look at my relationship with the Lord. It has allowed me to have more grace for myself. I can meet with the Lord in the ways that I need for the season I am in, and not just in a way that is traditionally expected of me. I don’t have to appease the expectations within me that say that in order to be a “good Christian” I have to meet with God in a certain way. I have realized that God is a God of freedom and that he wants me to meet with him in ways that bring me freedom, not stress and shame.
So, I encourage you, create. Create because you were innately made to be a creator. Take the time to find new ways to allow your soul to connect with God. And we are all creative, because we reflect the image of the creator of the universe. So go, try new things; find ways to create in order to connect with Jesus in new ways.
