God Wants You to Make Something! [Day 3]
By Tory Carlsen
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters… “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blesses them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:1-2, 26-31 ESV)
It was my first internship out of college. We took a personality test as a part of the corporate onboarding process. I was really interested in my results, until I got to the section that said something to the effect of “Tory likely has a lot of ideas, and rarely sees them through all the way to completion.” Playing that memory back in my mind is like a dagger in my heart, even years later. It fit right into a string of negative thoughts that led me right to the belief that I shouldn’t try to make an impact: because I’ll never finish the songs I start writing, I’ll let down the teams that I lead, I’ll never be able to bring my ideas to fruition, and I don’t have what it takes—so why bother? I wrote myself off as an idealist with big dreams who didn’t have the ability to execute. Thinking I couldn’t make an impact led to the existential dread and imposter syndrome that follow many of us.
After years of small wins building up, I’ve grown to reject that line of thinking. Creativity is no longer just the start of the process, and there no longer needs to be a finite end. Life is an ongoing improvement project—a series of releases and improvements with tangible goals, steps, and outcomes along the way. As my confidence has increased, so has my sense of purpose. Whereas the devil would have me sitting on the sidelines, God wants to put me into the game so that I can help advance His kingdom.
God created man and woman in His own likeness. This means that we have the likeness of a Creator! The first thing God did in the Bible was take a formless world and shape it into something new. It is therefore natural and fundamental that God expects humans to create!
Creativity is a term that gets thrown around quite a bit, for a lot of different applications, so I think it is helpful to refresh our definition. Are only artists creative? Is this something reserved only for the elite? According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, the definition of creativity is quite simple: “the ability to create.” Creating just means to make something!
I love these definitions. Do you know what this means? We are all creative creators, just like the God whose likeness we were made in! Even if you make yourself dinner or make your bed, you fit the definition!
Dispel the negative thoughts in your head that hold you back. God doesn’t care if it’s been done before. He desires excellence, but He doesn’t need you to be perfect. He could have taken care of the earth, but He made Adam and Eve His partners in stewarding the world and naming the animals because when we fulfill our God-intended nature, we feel fulfilled.
Life has been disrupted for all of us during this time. Whether you are living in chaos because you are in a field that is needed more than ever, or if you have found yourself suddenly with a lot more free time, either can be fertile soil for creating something that outlasts this situation.
This week, make one thing.
Make a new meal you’ve never tried. Start a plan to help those in your community. Make a design for a new device. Come up with an idea or two to improve a process at work (rather than just being annoyed by what’s broken!). Build a Rube Goldberg machine. Make a song. Make a card for a friend. Draw something. Write something. Tell a story.
Don’t overwhelm yourself by biting off more than you can chew. Start by aiming for a small win and just make anything! Maybe instead of writing a whole song, you write the chorus. Maybe instead of that book you want to write, start with a paragraph. Once you gain momentum, I think you’ll see that a routine of creativity in your life can brighten your entire outlook. All the while, God will be shaping you as you are following His lead to shape the world around you.
Prayer
Lord, I thank You for partnering with humanity in Your creation and giving us meaning in this world. Please guide me this week as I lean into Your calling to create something. I want the work of my hands to bring You glory and praise. Your creation is so excellent. Thank You for the inspiration brought forth to us as we observe the natural world around us—quantifying creation’s complexity through science, indulging in the lush soundscape available to us because You allowed for the vibrations to process through our ears to our brains in an appealing way, tasting the wide flavor palette that Your creations grow, and taking in the scenic beauty of nature. In Jesus’ name, amen.
