For years, I’ve been teaching young children in Bible class to memorize Psalm 139:14:

I praise you, because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

I want them to write it on their hearts and never forget the words. There are no self-made men. There is no self-driven success. We are all made in His image, given the talents that He wishes us to have. As James 1:17 says,

Every good and perfect gift is from above.

Why, then, is it so hard to consider our creative genius as a gift from God? Why do we beat ourselves up over the lack of it, and doubt our ability to produce work of the quality it should be? A new friend challenged me on this today, on my fear that I can’t write anything “publish-worthy.” He said if it’s “God-worthy,” then it’s ready to be used. So true, and yet sometimes so hard to believe.

I know why I doubt, why we all doubt. Get behind me, Satan. I worry about the things of men instead of the things of God.

I recently watched a TED talk from Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love, who spoke on this very thing. She talked of the tormented creative geniuses over the past five hundred years who believed their genius came from an internal source, and raised the question as to why creative greatness could not be a glimpse of God.

He is, after all, the great Creator–would it not please Him that we create our own beauty as well? He gives us the inspiration and tools, and we make beautiful music or art, though I think the Bible is clear that he wants us to use these gifts to honor Him. As it says in 1 Peter 4:7-11, we must do everything to the glory of God. If we do, then perhaps we will allow others to see Him through us.

Gilbert makes the point that perhaps our genius is something we hold onto for a short time, and then it moves on to someone else. She’s speaking metaphorically, of course, but how presumptuous of us to expect that we should be permitted to use our God-given talent to propel ourselves further and further into success over the course of our entire life.

So, my prayer today is to keep my focus on His message, that perhaps through the words on my page, someone might see Him more clearly.