“To this end I labor, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me.” ~ Colossian 1:29 (NIV)

And so I left you hanging a couple days ago in regards to overcoming our fear as artists. Let’s continue.

We’ve been so concerned about reflecting Christ perfectly, precisely, Alice Bass says, that we sometimes fear living creatively at all. She speculates on a solution: Do we live a “free-spirited life” and not concern ourselves with expressing the gospel? Or, turn our backs on creativity and “try to express every jot of Scripture”?

We could never explain the complete depths of Christ, in a body of creative work, nor a lifetime. We can’t fathom His depths, much less express them. But the one thing we do is abide. Our part is to be so intimately connected to our Savior that His life flows through us in everything we do. With that comes the freedom to express ourselves uniquely as He intended. It banishes fear. The joy is learning that He desires to infuse us with creativity, reach a dark and dying world, and amaze us with His grace at the same time.

But the fears come. We feel inadequate. We wrestle with the flesh. Bass offers her solution:

“Allow your tiny offering to reveal your heart, to express your hurt, and allow God to speak the entire gospel through that moment.”

Instead, we’re hiding behind a crisis of confidence. Not self-confidence, mind you, but God-confidence. We don’t pursue our gift more eagerly because we fear not doing Him justice. Our work might not accurately reflect His heart, we say. We’re afraid to venture out. It’s more comfortable to lament our shortcomings.

But hey, I’m well-acquainted with this fear. It’s p-a-r-a-l-y-z-i-n-g. I have to remind myself that fear never comes from God. It’s the spiritual booby-trap of the enemy. Fear comes when we focus too much on our limited abilities instead of relying on God’s grace. We let fear of failure, rejection, ridicule, and judgement cripple our craft.

Let these words settle in your heart:

“I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit” (John 15:16, NIV)

If He chose us, appointed us, prepared good works in advance for us, then it’s high time we stopped running from opportunities for Him to express His life in and through us as artists. It’s not our responsibility to be perfect; our responsibility is to abide. He will grow the fruit of our art.

“I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power” (Ephesians 3:7, emphasis mine).

It’s all GRACE, my creative friend. When you hit that wall of fear, think grace. Lean on the grace that first brought you to Him. He will banish the fear and ignite a burning passion for more of Himself. The art will follow.

Next post: Fan the Flame