Released By Faith

This entire month of January I have been studying the process of vision casting as well as digging into what faith really is and looking at it through the lens of creativity. It has been impactful. The opposite of this whole process the month of January is complacency and being comfortable. I tried to be more vulnerable and intentionally do things outside my comfort zone to see God in a whole new light. It started with the Flip the Flow sermon from Pastor Steven Furtick from Elevation Church, a Bible Study and devotional group about being Courageous Creatives and various sermons about faith as well as reading through the Psalms.

Here is what I know. Faith is a muscle and you need to exercise it. It is exercised with pressure. You don't need faith when you are not under pressure, yet being under pressure is uncomfortable. It makes us vulnerable. Some people cave under. Other people rise above. Why? What happens in the middle?

 The middle matters. I teach fifth grade and we have finished two books one called A Long Walk to Water and the other called Fever 1793. In both books, the main character wrestled with unforeseen circumstances, things like a village burning down, an epidemic, multiple deaths before their very eyes. Yet, in both books, the character in the middle of the story plot decides not to pitch a fit, throw a pity party table for one and digs deep down and believes that tomorrow will be better. Our new book, Out of the Dust has the same theme. Each of the characters in each of our stories had to fight through the fear. There was fear. It was not imaginary and it took faith to rise above. The situations each character fought though positioned them for a significant wonderful change in the end.


Tomorrow will be better, but that is because I have faith. There is a boatload of things I fear but instead of letting fear be the reason I don't do something, I am learning to let fear propel me to fight through and do it. I like how Bishop Kevin Foreman described it, "Faith will give you stretch marks. Those stretch marks are proof you can carry big things. Often the fears we fight though, the situations we fight through position us for God's best in our lives."

So, my challenge is this, where is it that you need to be vulnerable, overcome some fears, be filled with faith so that you can be closer to God's plan as well as walk towards creativity?  Where is it that you need to say no so that you can give to God your greater yes? Where is it that you need to toss away the old wineskin, one that will fall apart when something new is added because it can't expand and instead pour new wine into a new wineskin that will correctly expand with fermentation while it ages correctly? Where is it that you need to have a fresh perspective, a new mindset?

Lord, I put limits on you, a limitless God and I tell you how to use me but I only give you so much of me that you can use. Help me to not waste anything, not miss a step and instead give you access and complete freedom to do what only you can do creatively through me for your glory and for your name. Be released in my life. Amen