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You Were Made For More

April 21, 2010 in dreams, PROMISE, purpose with 0 Comments

“We are made for larger ends than Earth can encompass. Oh, let us be true to our exalted destiny.”
 ~ Catherine Booth (Salvation Army co-founder)

Catherine Booth knew something about embracing an impossible plan and seeing it unfold before her eyes. She and her husband, William, founded the Salvation Army and watched it grow into an international, world-changing organization in their lifetime. It’s an organization that stood the test of time and continues to bless humanity generations later. Her words on the subject can be trusted.

So what does that have to do with you? God created you for an amazing adventure, most of which also seems improbable or even impossible to achieve.

Seems that way, but it’s not.

There is a plan. A destiny. A purpose that only you can fulfill on earth. In fact the plan is not just the final destination, it’s also planned down to the day. The hour. The minute. How do I know?

“You saw me before I was born.
  Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
  before a single day had passed.”
Psalm 139:16 (NLT)

This puts substance to the phrase “God is in the details.” Actually, God is in YOUR details. Every day was recorded in His book. Every moment of your life was laid out before a single day had passed. The plan for your life doesn’t  just consist of the details of your earthly lifespan, either. The plan has “larger ends than Earth can encompass.” The plan has relevance beyond earth and beyond the time you have here.

Let’s make a decision today to cooperate with the marvelous plan God has for us, no matter how impossible it may look. Like Catherine Booth, let’s say, “…Oh, let us be true to our exalted destiny.”

What Every Creative Needs: Part Five

March 22, 2009 in creative, Needs, PROMISE, series with 1 Comment

What Every Creative Needs (Part Five): Promise
“Are we there yet?”
This is the lament of many a child on a long, arduous journey (at least 15 minutes). Answered or unanswered, you could hear that question at regular intervals until you have indeed arrived at the desired destination. This is also the question that the creative person persistently asks themselves. Trust me, I’m not mocking or even trying to draw comparisons between children and artists – there’s already been more than enough of that sad cheap-shot.
To the creative mind (unlike the child’s), “Are we there yet?” is not at all related to a lack of understanding of time and space relations, it is merely a means of identifying where we are on the journey of any given endeavor. We like to know where we are and how much is left. In our minds the question is not an annoyance, but a means of self-evaluation. 
In an almost ideal world, the creative person is valued for their input, questioning and constant exploration of the boundaries. In a perfect ideal world, they are valued for pushing out the boundaries and helping us to get out of our box. Some endeavors actually start and finish that way. Some start that way and then veer off-course, or unfortunately stay much the same and make little creative progress. 
“There” in the ideal world is the intended destination. However, in the real world “there” may be the place where the creative person senses they have become unable to hit the mark or affect change. There are few things worse to creative minds than spinning their wheels in an endeavor that has no room for their gift. Being stuck, stagnant and unable to grow is by far the worst on the list.
Conversely, there are few things better to the creative mind than hope. The promise of actually making a difference, being heard and valued in an endeavor or organization is life. Not promises. Promise. The promise found in a safe place to creatively invest all is a journey the artist finds thrilling. Not an arduous journey filled with “Are we there yet?” This is a journey of possibilities and hope… a journey with promise.