Day 8 of Embracing Your Creative Gifts: Times of Preparation

 

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. – John 1:14

Jesus is both true God and true man. This is the mystery of the Incarnation. He is consubstantial (One in Being) with the Father and is eternal, yet He also took human form and became like us in all ways but sin.

He is our ultimate role model on how to be fully human, how to interact with and make the most of the world that he co-created with the Father. The Gospels record some of what Jesus said and did during his earthly life. What can we learn from Jesus about how to use our creativity for the glory of God?

To start with, we can reflect on what is not said. There are many hidden years of Jesus’ life. After the infancy narratives, we see Jesus at age twelve at which point he already understands his mission. He tells his mother, who has spent three days full of worry searching for him, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49)

The next time we encounter Jesus, he is a grown man of approximately thirty years old. What was he doing all those years? We can only speculate, but most likely he was living a quiet existence. He probably worked as a carpenter, a trade he would have learned from his foster-father, St. Joseph. He cared for his mother. He studied the Jewish Scriptures and practiced his faith. He was in a time of preparation until his Father said it was time to fulfill his mission.

We, too, may have times in our lives when it seems we are not doing anything of great importance. Those times of quiet preparation can have great value in our lives and our creativity, even though we may not fully appreciate them in the moment.

Prayer

Dear Jesus, I so often want to be busy doing something big and important. Your life illustrates that the times of quiet preparation matter as well. Please help me to appreciate the gift of all the days God has given me and to take advantage of those times of preparation so that when the time is right, I can fulfill the mission God has entrusted to me.

Action

Are you currently feeling restless? Do you feel like you could be or should be doing something more or bigger with your life at this moment? Today, take a look back at your life so far. Can you see times when God was getting you ready for something big, even though you couldn’t see it coming at the time? Can you trust that God will use you when the time is right?

This is an excerpt from The Work of Our Hands. (Amazon affiliate link)