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3 Ways Artists & Designers Hear from God

11 December 2007 4 Comments

prayerHow do you hear from God concerning your creative talent?
How do you hear from God concerning ANYTHING for that matter?

There is no quick and easy formula, but the bible does guide us and gives us confidence that God does speak to, guides and directs His artists.

 

 

The key principle that I believe is that God speaks to us all the time, we just need to:

  • Be in the place where God is speaking in order to hear Him.
  • Get rid of the “noise” that tries to drown out the sound of His voice.
  • Refrain from silencing the voice of God when it conflicts with our own “voice”.

Being “where God is speaking” means to be in the presence of God. This can be anywhere when you direct your mind and spirit to God. That means in church, in fellowship with other believers and especially in your own personal Quiet Time communing with God. It’s like a briefing or meeting that God and you have. The thing is, many times God is waiting to meet with you, but YOU don’t show up to hear from Him.

You as an artist or designer can be encouraged by Bezaleel, an artist from the book of Exodus. God chose him to use his talent to help create the ark of the covenant and the tabernacle where God met with the Hebrew people. Bezeleel’s name means “In the shadow of El” or “In the shadow of God”. This leads us to believe that Bez was an artist that spent time in God’s presence.

The “noise” of day-to-day life can drown out the voice of God. Jesus was surrounded by people almost everyday, yet He dedicated time to step away from the crowds and spend quality time alone with God. The voices of 24 hour TV, radio, cell phones, etc. keeps us accustomed to background noise. It is becoming even more of a challenge to sit down in the quiet and read due to our fast growing multi-media culture. Jesus set the example for us by stealing away to commune with the father, as he received direction from the Father.

Lastly, refrain from silencing the voice of God when it conflicts with your own “voice”. Sometimes God has already spoken to you on many topics. What if His direction to you is the same thing that you’d rather not do? Many times when this happens, we tell ourselves that this wasn’t God’s voice, but our own. What you need to do is to condition yourself to be in a position of Neutrality. That means that you are able to accept whatever God decides no matter how important your personal preference may be.

4 Comments »

  • JWP said:

    Good post. I agree that God is speaking all the ti; however, how do you personally differentiate the “voice” of God from your own inner “voices” that come from our own promptings of ddesires for this or that?

    After all, we see darkly in this present age. We no longer have prophets (i.e., “Thus says the Lord …”) and our promptings from the Holy Spirit aren’t infallible. It would be nice to have that direct line, but our personalities are refined so well in the midst of those struggles.

    Thoughts?

    # 11 December 2007 at 9:42 am
  • kaber said:

    That is a tough call. I can only suggest that like painting or drawing, it takes practice. First we must head the voice of our concience and as we do so more often, we can begin to differentiate between our oun wants/needs and the voice of God within us.

    # 14 December 2007 at 1:59 pm
  • Randy H said:

    Hey, I caught this discussion after linking over from Christian Comic Arts Society.

    I think the difficulties you guys are experiencing are explained and dealt with very well in this teaching CD:
    https://secure2.convio.net/str/site/Ecommerce?VIEW_PRODUCT=true&product_id=1122&store_id=1161&JServSessionIdr012=pcnr7wzpo1.app2a

    I can promise you, as a fellow Christian artist, that this CD set will be immensely helpful to you in your walk with Christ. I don’t work for the org that puts this tape out, so I’m not making money off of you by suggesting it, but I have benefitted immensely from this tape.

    It simply and profoundly answers the questions you were asing above, in a way that has completely removed the anxiety I used to feel when seeking God’s will. (I know it sounds like a sales pitch, but I’m telling you the truth)

    If the URL doesn’t work, go to http://www.str.org and look in their online store for “Decision Making and the Will of God” by Greg Koukl.

    # 20 December 2007 at 9:45 am
  • JWP said:

    Although I haven’t listened to this series, I have to say I’m an ardent advocate of Stand to Reason’s materials. AND, I’ve also read the book Greg used to develop this course: Gary Friesen’s Decision Making and the Will of God -

    http://www.amazon.com/Decision-Making-Will-God-Alternative/dp/1590522052/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198193744&sr=8-1

    I raised my question to kaber because I wanted to hear what he, as an artist and believer, had to say about the process of decision making. I would be curious what kaber would say after reading Friesen’s book. Since it ’sounds’ like an alternate — though very compelling — view.

    # 21 December 2007 at 4:40 am