Tapping Into Creativity

One of the greatest gifts that is left unopened in many peoples' lives is creativity. You hear comments like, "I could never do that," or "Wow, I wish I would have thought of that."

Charles H. Duell, U.S. Patent Commissioner in 1899 said, "Everything that can be invented has been invented." Oops! Limited thinking and limited faith will always give you limited results.

To say you are not creative is to deny the living God who indwells you. To those of us who are parents, creativity is also necessary. If we want to be successful as parents, the greatest thing we can do is tap into the creative power of God.

When my daughter Allyson was two years old we were having typical discipline problems. The only difficulty was "time out" and spankings were not fazing her. It was time to tap into creativity. Bingo! The next time an incident came up, "Barney" (her favorite stuffed animal) went on the refrigerator for two hours.

It's a wonder child services was not called because she screamed and cried so loud. Guess what? All we had to say from that point on was, "Allyson, do you want to lose Barney?" And "Princess Allyson" came to life!

One of my favorite scriptures is Ephesians 3:20. It tells us God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all we could think or imagine.

Let's take a look at the book of Genesis and see what the power of creation will really do.

It breaks the past! (Gen. 1:2-19) It takes things which are null and void, and makes them beautiful, abundant, rich, flourishing, and full of life, energy, and excitement.
It brings light and illumination to a darkened situation. (Gen. 1:3) Teenagers are tired of boring communication at home and church. With the creativity of God working in us and through us, teenagers will grasp it, understand it, and live it!
It breeds variety, diversity and innovation. (Gen. 1:21-25) I get inspired with creativity every time I take my kids to the zoo. I love to sit and look at the wide variety and sometimes weird-looking animals. Creativity thinks outside of the box. We get so comfortable sometimes.
It breathes life. (Gen. 2:7) John 20:22 says, "He breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'" We have God's Spirit living on the inside of us. We can breathe fresh air into stale situations.
It brings victory. When a God inspired, creative idea comes, victory is sure to follow. I love it when Gideon and 300 men defeated an army of thousands! When Joshua walked around the walls and Jehoshaphat put the worshippers at the front instead of the warriors.