The Invitation to Create
Recently I was sitting down with a few good friends. We’ve been meeting together and having conversations that inspire one another. The point of this time together, in addition to checking in with one another is to help the other person see the value that they bring in their particular family, workplace and community. The last time we met, something struck me!
Here’s the vision:
You’re in a kitchen and in front of you is a large island with a mixing bowl and in your hand is not just a recipe, to you and possibly others, it’s become “The Recipe.”
The kitchen represents the setting, the place in which we create. The recipe represents the formula, expectations and fixed thought processes by which we mentally manufacture an end result. Sometimes the formula works and sometimes it blows up in our face! However, we fear rejection, abandonment, criticism of some kind, and ultimately a desire to prove our value and worth that leads us back to this particular recipe. As you look over the kitchen you begin to view anyone and anything as a threat to the process of executing directly from the recipe.
What if I told you the recipe could be changed? What if I told you the recipe could be better? Have you ever held so tightly to an idea because of specific fears that in the end the “good deal” became a limitation? Most people can spot this easily in others, but it’s very difficult for a person to part with their own family recipe!
So, look up. Look around the kitchen. You begin to realize that within this kitchen are an array of resources - an abundance at your benefit. You smell the fresh aroma of the herbs, the brightly colored foods and the kitchen’s finest appliances like you’ve never seen. Then you look down at the mixing bowl and your recipe.
Risk or Rust
For any great change there will always be risk and sacrifice. In fact, the kitchen can be a dangerous place. What if I reach for the knife and cut my hand or burn myself on the hot stove? What if the alternative is not better than the original recipe? What if I don’t know how to utilize these resources within this kitchen and in the end it’s a failure?
I want you to know that what you have in your hand right now is probably a pretty good recipe. Some may say it’s a “good gig” or “you’re doing the best you can with what you have.”
When we find ourselves arrested by what feels like sudden anxiety or crippling fear, our beliefs will be limited. It’s difficult to see in these moments the freedoms and abundance set before us. Many of us bring unresolved hurt and pain, legitimate wounds and issues into the equation and we think, the recipe has worked for me before, why fix it if it’s not broken?
What if our thinking is broken? We easily can make decisions daily filtered through a scratched lens or impoverished system. “I don’t deserve this…I’m too scared…I could never ask for that…don’t rock the boat…just keep playing it safe. Or, we can always play the blame game. We’re really good at taking our shame and projecting it onto others. What we need to do is mind our business and probably think bigger…expect more, even more than our original recipe. If we don’t risk, we will rust!
Jesus shared a story about three people given different talents, or in this case we may think of them as recipes. Each person was given something that ultimately belonged to the one from whom it was given. That is the definition of a steward: one who takes care of something that ultimately belongs to another. We know that each person was given according to their ability with the expectation that what was given would be invested and grown into something more. For two of these people, this was true. They were honored and actually given more in return. However, for the one, he was afraid. Why was he afraid? He believed that the one who gave him this talent was a harsh owner and out of fear instead of investing and creatively watching the talent grow he actually buried it in the ground, literally.
Have you ever felt so afraid to lose something or disappoint someone that you became passive to the invitation to create?
Here’s what we know, our Father God is a good God, slow to anger and full of supernatural love. When we create, we risk. We experiment and sometimes we will fail. We can always learn from our mistakes. This is how we stay humble and dependent in the leading of the LORD. When we hold the original recipe in our hands we also must remember that we have open access to the kitchen. It seems appropriate that while cooking in the kitchen we’ll expect to experience some obstacles. Consider the sharp objects, heating elements and the times where we occasionally feel overwhelmed by the abundant varieties that abound. Nevertheless, we are not alone. We have been invited to participate in the cooking process to employ the resources around us. We are led to creatively help others in a way that is for God’s glory and our good.
“Everything [in this kitchen] is my asset, an option working for me if I decide to employ it.”
When I look around this kitchen I see beautiful arrangements of foods that will ultimately make more food. We take from one and add to another and we begin to realize it really is okay for the recipe to change. You have been given the invitation to create!
Josh Neuer is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Greenville, SC. Josh helps individuals, families, businesses and communities receive hope and healing that literally changes the world! Josh is passionate about empowering meaningful change in people including growing communities and team cultures. He is the founder of Joshua Neuer, LLC Counseling, a committed husband and father, and is absolutely crazy about relationships!