When I talk with people about Craft Connections, there is one comment I hear time and again: ‘I’m not at all creative.’
OK, so not everyone has a flair for conjuring up something new from wool, paper, clay or fabric, but I would argue that every single one of us is hardwired to be creative.
Isaiah 64 verse 8 reminds us about God’s creativity:
‘We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.’ What’s more, we are made ‘in his own image’.
That means we started out full of creativity! Spend some time watching a young child. You will see them observe and imitate, but you will also see objects used in novel ways; fascinating new body positions achieved. You will hear sound and word play; imaginative storylines. Children seem designed to experiment and innovate. It is easy for us to lose touch with that as we grow older and decide that we have neither the ability nor the time.
John Piper writes: ‘Your work is to take what God has made and shape it and use it to make him look great.’ (Don’t Waste Your Life)
So whether you sing, organise, repair things, dance, cook, teach, clean, act, sew, tell a story, knit, run a home group, write, garden, pray, draw, take photos, raise a child; remember that with a bit of hard work and imagination, you can create beauty from chaos, showing the world a glimpse of what our God is really like.
And next time we chat about Craft Connections, wouldn’t it be great if you were able to say with certainty, ‘Yes, I am creative, because I take after my heavenly Father!’
Angie Benning
