“We have a choice today.
We can look out and see the unlimited, abundant opportunities God has placed before us.
To create. To write. To serve. To sing. To be and become.
Or we can stare at the opportunity of another person and get entangled in the enemy’s lie that everything is scarce. Scarce opportunities. Scarce supply. Scarce possibilities.
And we start seeing another person’s creations as a threat to our own opportunities.”
I read these powerful words from Lysa Terkeurst last week. Honestly, they were a bit convicting. As an artist and mother myself, there have been times I have felt this threat; this underlying feeling of insecurity.
We live in a world where social media makes it easy to see others' accomplishments and recognition. This can be professionally, artistically, or even on the home front through our children’s achievements. Some refer to this as noise. Some may say they tune out the noise, but each one of us is susceptible to it at some point. We all have days where we face self-doubt. Days we wonder when our turn will come. Days we want to quit. Days that we let the noise into our lives.
My prayer is that we will use these times, to search within ourselves. To seek God more. To follow Him. To use the times of waiting for growth. God’s plan for each of us is unique and so intricate. In knowing this, we can rejoice with others. We SHOULD rejoice with others. We should be able to genuinely encourage those around us, while we patiently wait for God’s provision in our own life.
I pray our little artist and her siblings will have the confidence to know that God has given them each bountiful opportunities. As Lysa says, “there is an abundant need in this world for your contributions to the Kingdom . . . your thoughts and words and artistic expressions . . . your exact brand of beautiful. Know it. Believe it. Live it.”