Truth and grace for today...

i saw this on anne's facebook, and my heart keeps coming back to it...

Each person is given something to do that shows who God is.
1 Corinthians 12:7 MSG

this is Truth. what is that thing for each of us that shows others who God is? or is it not so much the thing itself, but rather us honoring who God has created us to be? our true self?

i haven't worked on any art in a while... my dear friend, rick's aunt, michaella asked me why i thought that was... i told her probably fear and my insecurities. what if people don't like it? what if they don't buy it? mainly - what if people reject what i've created - the expression of my heart?

i talked to anne this morning, and i felt like the Spirit was giving me Truth to speak to her - about how her gift of writing, her heart for prayer are from God, and how the broken people in her life who hurt her and let her down (or are just apathetic to her gifts), should not keep her from doing the things God had put in her heart to do - from being the person God has created her to be.

but, like most times when God gives me Truth to speak to my friends, i think it was Truth for me, too.

when michaella and i were talking the other day, and i expressed my fears to her, she told me that she thinks i should create, and do my art, regardless of whether people will buy it or not... to me, someone buying something i've created is validation. if they don't buy it (or don't respond kindly to it), it's rejection. on the surface, they are rejecting the product. but for anyone who creates from the heart, whether it be music, writing, artwork - it feels like rejection of our true selves.

michaella's point was that if God has put this desire to create in my heart, i need to honor that desire. whether people - whether the world - accepts or approves or validates it is irrelevant. i'm not doing it for them anyways, right? i'm doing it for me - and for Jesus. or at least i was when i first began...

Lord, thank you for speaking your Truth to me today. thank you for your patience, your mercy, and your grace. thank you for dear friends who encourage me. please help me - help all of us - to stay anchored in your love and Truth, in who you have created me and called me to be. protect my heart from false fears and insecurities... guide me always back to You.