Hi Tenshi (@tenshichispa),
That is a good question:
On the topic of priority, I hear quite a bit that if writing (or any other endeavor) is critical to an individual, they should make it a priority. How can we balance making progress on our projects without creativity becoming the ultimate priority over God?
One thing I would say is that if “making progress” impedes your time of prayer, worship, and fellowship with the Lord, then it needs to be relegated back to a subordinate role. God says to set no other “gods” before Him, so His proper place should be given in your time, focus and energies. Since all of our gifts come from Him, we partner with Him in creativity. If we break that fellowship with Him in the process, it is like becoming disconnected from the “power source” and all of our creative efforts will fizzle out anyway. When you partner with the Lord in your creativity, the process becomes enlivened and a joy. Without Him, the process usually falls flat.
Read the Scripture with intention, asking the Lord to speak to you and through you as you study His Word. Ask Him to give you clarity in your writing, and to allow His timing to lead you, rather than judging “progress” by your own artificial benchmarks.
Be willing to listen to God’s guidance as your write, for the product of your joint creativity should serve to bring God glory rather than your own.
Trust the Lord in the creative process and make serving His purposes for your creativity greater than your own desires.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. [Proverbs 3:5-7 NKJV]
God always has an outcome that far exceeds anything we could ever accomplish on our own. If the Lord directs you to sit down and write, be obedient to that. If the Lord directs you to take a break, there may be some aspect of the story He wants you to reconsider or pay attention to something in your present experience that may give you a fresh perspective and approach to what you’ve been writing. Allow God to give you those starts and stops, for the writing process is as much about drawing from within yourself and finding how God uses that exercise to grow and mature you through it.
If the process of creativity does not affect you profoundly, the chances are it will not affect others as you intend either. Allow God’s creative gift to open up unexplored areas in your own heart and gain epiphanies and insights as God leads you through. Yield to His pacing. Think of it as a dance and He is your lead. Follow His steps and movements. Don’t fight Him. Listen for the tempo He sets and enjoy the dance.
Brian Stansell (aka O'Brian of the Surface World)
I was born in war.
Fighting from my first breath.
