If you create anything — be it on a screen, with a team or in your imagination– you know the sound of a deadline approaching.

That sound rang in my ears as I responded to requests for ministry event ideas. The deadlines varied for each task but here’s the list: An ice-breaker for a fellowship brunch, a closing activity for a community outreach project and a small group breakout idea.

It was crunch time for creativity.

And the crunch creates pressure. Expectations are high and all eyes await the final outcome. If you’ve been there too, you know time moves swiftly and it may pass quicker than our ideas form.

But when it’s crunch time for creativity, it’s also time for courage. The best ideas don’t flow through the fearful. They come to us when we dare to make positive change.

As I considered the tasks on my list, I quickly recalled how my past successes were preceded by prayers of desperation and dependency on God.

However, everything feels risky when it’s crunch time for creativity. And yet, the more I lean on Him, the more I experience His grace as a safety net. As I leap, I tell my ego to move out of the way. Ego always brings unrelenting pressure or unrealistic expectations.

As I seek to follow God’s prompts, it’s a mixed bag of adventure and courage, without taking myself too seriously. I’ve made my share of missteps, but each one offers me a lesson. I may use a prop to emphasize a principle during speaking engagements or devise activities to encourage biblical application. I write posts pointing readers to the joy of knowing the Lord.

Then I hold my breath.

I wait to see what the Spirit does with what I believe was His idea all along.

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:10 NLT).

When I consider my sin and shortcomings, being God’s masterpiece is miraculous. However, new life in Christ enables us to “do the good things He planned for us long ago.”

And He planned them long before we knew the power or the challenge of being creative.

God knows who’s on the receiving end of our efforts. He knows what they need and how to reach them. The gifts and talents residing in us are there by His choice.
So is it easy to forget His grace, when it’s crunch time for creativity? I believe this quote by Jack Countryman helps us to remember. It describes our response-ability as it relates to His ability:

“We steward creativity; we don’t actually create it. When we think we are the genius, it leads us into fear and anxiety because it all depends on us. When we know God is the genius, the pressure is off of us because it’s His message and we are His scribes. It’s His poem, and we recite it. It’s His song, and we are in the choir. It’s His dance, and we are taking choreography cues. It’s His novel, and we are simply holding the pen. It’s His sermon, and we are just reciting it.”

When it’s crunch time for creativity, before I roll up my sleeves to work, I need to bend my heart towards the Creator.

Be it a project or my next blog post, any assignment from Him is my privilege; but I’m mindful it’s not for my glory. I always have the receiving and reflecting part. The genius part belongs to God. Because as Countryman reminds us, “We steward creativity; we don’t actually create it.”

We can prayerfully approach the process.

Develop or fine tune a skill.

Be willing to be accountable to and receive help from others.

Follow through on our commitments.

And don’t forget to breathe.

As we release the skill and inspiration God gives, He can be seen. Felt. Magnified. For He is the one who creates hope for the heart and joy to the soul.