A Creative Endeavor

Glory to God, who is able to do far beyond all that we could ask or imagine by his power at work within us.

— Ephesians 3:20 (CEB)

When my grandmother taught me to knit when I was 10 years old, I cast on stitches, envisioning a long, fluffy scarf to wrap around me in winter. Soon I saw I was creating a lopsided polygon that bore no resemblance to a scarf. The vision I had for my project did not match reality. Discouraged, I gave up. 

Nearly a decade later, I tried knitting again, and came to it with a little more patience and coordination, and a willingness to reshape my vision as the project progressed. I corrected stitches, ripped out rows, and, eventually, I completed a scarf. I’ve since finished more knitting projects than I can count; and though I am much more skilled now, my finished projects almost never exactly match my initial vision. And that is part of the joy of creative projects — seeing where the journey leads. 

Knitting has helped me think of the journey of faith as a creative endeavor. My idea of the best way to serve God doesn’t always match up with the reality of what I can do or what the world truly needs. But God’s vision for our service is much more expansive and imaginative than ours. In this issue of The Upper Room, writers share stories of unfulfilled dreams, life-altering illnesses, and impossible mission projects that — with God’s help — they reshaped into new, creative, and life-giving ways of serving others and the world. 

Scripture overflows with stories of God’s creativity. Moses was rescued by the daughter of the Pharaoh who had ordered his execution (see Ex. 2:1-10); the wall surrounding Jericho fell when the Israelites marched around it sounding their trumpets (see Josh. 6:1-20); Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding in Cana (see Jn. 2:1-11); and Christ overcame death on the cross, offering us eternal life. Imagine how we can change the world when we open ourselves to God’s creative Spirit.