At the time of writing this, 33% of you said your biggest barrier to fulfilling your creative purpose is actually knowing what God’s plan is for your talent in the first place.

Event Sponsor Devin Smith (on right) Congratulates Winner Patro Ulmer

You’ve watched the following artist grow right here in our ALFG group, in his career and even with the projects he’s launched. Like many of us, Devin Smith knows that God wants him to do something with his talent. But unlike many, how did he go from talk to action?

I asked him and here’s what he had to say:

1. Devin, do you believe that these steps you’ve recently taken were part of your “Creative Purpose”? How
did you go about seeking God?

Absolutely. I think that all of the things I have moved on (the comic book, the new job, and a special project I can’t talk too much about right now), are part of my creative purpose. As a matter of fact, it was in my decision to get back on the horse with doing what God called me to do with the comic book that I was blessed with the opportunity to take my design career to the next level.

2. Does hearing God come easy or did you have to make any adjustments?

I had to make adjustments for sure, but hearing from Him was not difficult. It was paying attention enough to realize where He was speaking. I had people from all directions telling me that I needed to do a 180 and start the comic book again. After a good friend grabbed me by the ear and made me pay attention, I had to go on a fast in order to stop and hear God. What happened after hearing God and deciding to obey was an opportunity to show my comic to a larger audience.

The following day I got a call from an old work acquaintance wanting me to join him at another company where I would be doing more creative work and making a lot more money. I have been in that position for about two and half weeks now, and love it. And this was after God had already moved me from one job earlier this year and had already increased my income.

3. What would you tell other creative people that are struggling to know what God’s plan is for them from your experience?

Don’t look for a burning bush, it is most likely not coming. Look for God in the Godly people He has placed in your life that care about your success. Look for Him in His Word. Listen to your heart. My feelings clouded me, but when I stopped the presses and really listened to my own heart, I knew that I had to go face what I had run away from. Some of you just need to start.

DON’T WORRY ABOUT WHETHER YOU ARE DOING IT EXACTLY THE WAY GOD WANTS YOU TO JUST YET. If you follow your heart, not just your head, you will likely be close. He can redirect you when you are moving pretty easily, but it is up to you to move. Don’t get caught up in, “I am just waiting on God.” Most of the time He is waiting on you. He will let you know when you need to stop.

What questions do you have for Devin or what can you share with others who are still seeking direction from God concerning their talent? Post it in the comments below:

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In honor of National “Write the Vision” Month, look at this scenario:

1. God gives the Israelites a vision of being released from Egyptian slavery.
2. The Israelites catch the vision and walk it out; Moses leads them out of Egypt.
3. In the midst of miracles, challenges occur.
4. Many Israelites begin to doubt the vision and even considered their old life in Egypt, the place they “knew” God told them to leave in the first place! (See Exodus 17:3 as one example)

Sound familiar? Has this happened to you as you seek God for direction concerning your creative talent (or just life in general?)

In addition to clarifying your ideas, there is another reason for writing down your God-given vision…to counter doubt, because it’s going to raise its ugly head!

Habakkuk 2:2-3 says: “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.  For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”

• The written vision makes God’s plan for you PLAIN: Know that God is telling you TO do something or NOT to do from something.
• It will not LIE: God will not tell you one thing only to tell you “never mind about what I told you”. That’s why you must be confident in what He reveals to you.

Write it down.

Make it plain (He’s either saying it …or He’s NOT!)

It won’t lie.

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This is the month that you go beyond talk and move into specific action when it comes to your ideas, dreams and vision.

Here’s why I make such a big deal of writing the vision:

• There is no shortage of good ideas. There’s a shortage of people taking action on those ideas.
• Many people are worried about others “stealing their idea”. I don’t because the majority of people will not take action on the idea if they “steal” it in the first place.

Here are the secrets when it comes to writing the vision and taking action on it:

• Keep it simple: No need to write volumes and paragraphs if the written goals are to be used for your own tracking.
• Keep it specific: Only write down the one, two whatever number of key objects are logistically achievable.
• Keep it time sensitive: Put a deadline on it!
• Keep it where you can find it: You must be able to spot check to see where you are and how your progress is coming along.

If you’ve been connecting with ALFG in the past two or three years, most of what you’ve read, listened to, watched online or experienced with us offline came from a written page at the back of my personal journals that I tracked and measured throughout the year. Look at the photos and see if anything seems familiar:

This may look rough, but I'd refer to these goals all year to meet them!

You should see familiar projects on each of these.

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My Challenge to You:

Do what the Word says to do in Habakkuk 2:2-3: “ Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.  For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”

Get yourself a journal, calendar or something simple that you can write down a goal that you believe you can achieve within the coming year. Put deadlines on those ideas and dreams; it’s the only way they go from “fluff’ to becoming a true goal.

Tools to Help:

• Here’s an audio podcast I launched called “How to Identify Your Creative Calling”
• Here’s my workshop download called “How to Clarify Your Creative Vision and Earn a Profit as Well”

What questions do you have about taking action or writing your vision?

How will YOU choose to celebrate National “Write the Vision” Month?

Post your comments and share your voice (or at least forward this post to two progressive friends of yours!)

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• “Have I accomplished God’s creative assignment for my life this year?”
• “Was I close enough to God to hear His voice and know just what my creative assignment actually is?”

Seemingly deep questions but, as usual, God gave us people that can be used as examples. People who were gifted and talented artisans of their day. Here are three familiar artists from the pages of the scriptures that can serve as examples of how not to miss God:

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 Artist: Bezaleel and the Listening Lifestyle
See Exodus 35:30

Name Means: “In the shadow of EL” (“In the shadow of God”)
What We Can Gain from This: To be in the shadow of God, you must be in the presence of God.
Why is that important?
I believe Bezaleel had a “listening lifestyle” where he spent time in God’s presence.

Artists that spend time in God’s presence nurture their personal, one-on-one with relationship with Him.

They hear His voice and have an understanding of what He wants the artist to do using their creative talent.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Artist: Aholiab the Obedient
See Exodus 35:34

Name Means: “Father’s Tent”
What We Can Gain from This: To live under his “father’s tent” in his culture meant that he had to be a man under authority.
Why is that important?
Being under someone’s authority, especially your father means that you are obedient to that authority.

As Bezaleel exemplified hearing from God about your creative talent while in His presence, Aholiab is the example of where many artists make mistakes: you can hear God’s voice all day long, but if you fail to obey that voice and take action, you miss your assignment.

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Artist: Aaron- Pleasing People with Art Over Pleasing God
See Exodus 32

Never mind what his name means! Why is he here? Wasn’t he a priest?
During their time in the wilderness, the Israelites became restless while Moses was away receiving the Ten Commandments from God.

They strongly encouraged Aaron to use his skills to create a golden calf that they could use to worship. Aaron used his artistic ability to create an art piece that reflected the sinful nature that was already in the hearts of the people.
Aaron pleased the people with his talent rather than pleasing God.

What We Can Gain from This: The people decided how they wanted to worship, and enlisted Aaron to create this object of the worship process.

Why is that important?
We realize that we can be working on a creative project, thinking that it’s God’s will to make, sell giveaway, etc. The secret is to follow the examples of the first two artists to avoid the example of the last:

• Learn to Hear God’s voice by nurturing your relationship with the Spirit of God by spending time in His presence.
• Obey when you hear God’s voice, especially when His will is not the same as your own.
• God will never tell you to use your creativity in conflict with His Word.

Help us share this. Forward to at least one friend!

Post your comments below:

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POTENTIAL:
Your creative POTENTIAL can be defined as “everything that you are meant to be or to do as an artist or designer, but just haven’t done it yet”.

Your vantage point can be limited. You may see only what you have or have not done as an artist so far…your past. But your creative POTENTIAL is what God sees when He looks at you. It’s the part of Himself that He’s placed in you to do the work that He’s calling you to do.

God’s word puts it this way: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

You look at your past artistic successes or failures because MEMORIES make them real. Now you must learn to look at what’s next to accomplish because POTENTIAL makes it real.

Here’s how you do that:

GOALS:
Writing down specific and measurable goals involving your creative ability puts pressure on your potential. It puts your potential in action.
It sounds too simple, but here’s why it works.
God-given goals, when written down, state that based on your ability (and God’s empowerment working through you), here’s what you are able to make happen and here’s when it can be expected.

After several years of spinning my wheels and wasting my talent, I began to do what I noticed successful people doing. They were beyond dreaming and were “doing” simply because they would write down their goals and then put action behind it.

So what were your creative goals this year so far? Were they specific? Which ones have you completed so far? What about going forward?

Share your comments below:
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