April 15, 2025 • 17 mins
Ever wonder if your artistic struggles mean you've missed God's calling? When marketing feels overwhelming, business challenges mount, and self-doubt creeps in, it's easy to question everything. I've walked this path myself—the last two years brought some of my biggest professional challenges as shifting markets and changing landscapes left me wondering if my trajectory had changed.
These tactical troubles—marketing confusion, business overwhelm, inconsistent studio time, pricing frustrations, and imposter syndrome—can feel like flashing warning signs telling us we're failing. But here's the transformative truth: your struggles don't indicate failure; they signal growth. You're learning, developing, and expanding—exactly as you should be.
Scripture offers us powerful anchors during these storms. Romans 11:29 reminds us that "God's gifts and his call are irrevocable." He hasn't changed His mind about your creative calling just because things got difficult. Galatians 6:9 encourages persistence: we will reap if we don't give up. And Philippians 1:6 assures us that God will complete the good work He started in you.
To navigate these tactical challenges while staying aligned with your divine trajectory, I offer three proven approaches: refocus your "why" daily through intentional time with God, simplify by focusing on just the next step rather than trying to solve everything simultaneously, and surround yourself with supportive community rather than struggling alone.
You aren't behind, disqualified, or forgotten. You're exactly where you need to be—in process, becoming everything God designed you to be. Don't miss our free Thriving Christian Artist Weekly newsletter for regular encouragement, tips, and featured artist stories. Subscribe now through the link in the show notes and join thousands of artists discovering how to thrive in their creative calling!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Thriving Christian Artist, the
podcast, where we hope youconnect with God to bust through
the roadblocks that have heldyou back for years, create the
work you love and really livethe life you know.
God created you to live as anartist in His kingdom.
I'm Matt Tama, your host.
Let's get started.
Well, hey, my friend, so gladthat you're with me today on the
(00:24):
podcast.
You know, over the years I'veseen so many artists, talented
artists, really great peoplejust give up this whole calling
that God's given them as anartist.
And it's not over huge thingsthat you might think it is.
In fact, it's actually what Iwould call tactics, the things
(00:45):
that we just have to do, thepracticalities of being an
artist.
But here's the deal as artists,it's so easy to get tripped up
right by the tactical strugglesthat we have, the business
challenges and the marketinghiccups or bombs or whatever,
the lack of focus, theself-doubt that all comes in.
(01:06):
Listen, all of those kind oftactical struggles that we're
always having to navigate.
They can be really difficultfor us internally and that
manifests externally in our life.
But listen, one of the thingsthe enemy wants to get you to do
is to allow those struggles todefine your calling and
ultimately, to define thetrajectory, if you will, of your
(01:28):
life.
And I just want to encourageyou today in today's podcast
don't let these temporarystruggles cloud your eternal
trajectory, this visionaryprocess that God has brought you
into, of developing you as anartist, of co-laboring with you
as his son, as his daughter, andalso moving into everything
(01:52):
that he has for you in your life.
Listen, I wish that I could sayI've never had this struggle at
all.
Actually, I would say the lasttwo years of my life have been
probably one of the biggeststruggles that I've had in
regards to tactics beingsomething that just about well,
(02:13):
I hate to admit it, but itreally just about put me out of
the game.
I was probably walked throughthe worst, biggest struggles
over the last couple of yearsthat I've walked through in my
life, primarily because of unmetexpectations.
Things didn't work out the wayI thought they were going to
work out.
If you've not noticed, themarketing world has completely
(02:36):
changed over the last few years.
The art world has completelychanged.
People are wanting differentthings, learning in different
ways.
Just the whole scene in whichI've been navigating very
successfully for a lot of yearsjust really, really changed and,
I'll be honest, it threw me fora loop and it caused me to
wonder has the trajectory of mylife changed, God?
(02:57):
Is this calling that you havefor me over?
Is the way that you'repositioning me in your kingdom?
Is that transitioning into awhole different realm?
It just caused a lot ofstruggle in my life, and so I'm
speaking to you today out of aplace of real I don't know.
Tenderness in my own heart, butalso a desire to say listen, if
(03:18):
I'm walking through this, Iknow a lot of you guys are
walking through it as well, andI hope that today is an
encouragement for you in thatregard.
Now, when you think about commonstruggles that we all face as
artists some of the big onesthat I see kind of psych people
out and again allowing tacticsto really overwhelm and throw
(03:39):
off your trajectory the mainones I see a lot of times
marketing confusion like how doyou even start getting your work
out there?
What's the things that areworking, what's not?
This constant need to be tryingthings and testing and
measuring that can befrustrating Business overwhelm,
right?
If you're trying to grow abusiness and you've never had a
(04:00):
successful business of any kindbefore.
Maybe you've been a teacher,maybe you've been a stay-at-home
parent, Maybe you've beensomebody that's in a completely
different job market or jobopportunity.
You've never owned your ownbusiness.
It can be a lot right to learnhow to do that.
That's one of the reasons whywe started the mentoring program
so many years ago is to laythat out and make it a much
(04:22):
easier step-by-step process.
But I get it, it's still a lotof stuff Life happening and
inconsistent studio time orinconsistent focus for your
artwork can really be a downerfor you.
It can be one of those thingsthat the enemy brings shame in
and a lot of frustration in.
I totally get that.
(04:43):
Also, I think pricing your work,selling your work, all the
stuff that goes around with thatnot a minute, not to mention,
you know, imposter syndrome,fear of failure all of those
things can really have an effecton your inner world, right, the
way that you perceive your life, your calling what's possible
(05:04):
and today I really want you tohear this from me you are not
failing when you struggle withany of that.
What's happening is you'regrowing right.
You're learning new things.
You're learning how to takesome things out of focus and put
other things into focus.
You're learning things you'venever done before.
So struggle does not mean thatyou're missing it or that you
(05:27):
have missed it, or that you'retoo late or somehow you're
disqualified.
No, it means that you're normal.
It means that you're walking itout.
It means that you are a humanbeing that's walking through a
process of development.
And if you're the kind of personlike I am, which often expects
perfection the first time youstart something, listen, you
(05:50):
just got to back up, take a deepbreath and give yourself some
grace, Because those tacticalstruggles, when the enemy comes
in in the middle of you having astruggle like that, it can
absolutely cause you to doubtyour calling.
Or maybe, if you're notdoubting your calling, maybe it
just causes you to feelabsolutely stuck and like you
don't even know what to do.
(06:10):
But again, I want to just goback to this God's calling for
your life is not being revokedor being totally limited by your
current ability or your currentperformance or your current
struggle.
Again, your current ability oryour current performance or your
current struggle Again, you'rehuman.
Your struggle in the middle ofthis and you're learning new
(06:33):
issues and you're maturing inyour gift is not making God
nervous in any way, shape orform.
And I think this is a greatopportunity, and we talk about
this kind of thing so much inour Foundations course and also
in the mentoring program.
You got to go back to Scripture, right.
Because if you don't allow theWord of God about this kind of
thing so much in our Foundationscourse and also in the
mentoring program, you got to goback to Scripture, right.
Because if you don't allow theWord of God to create the lens
(06:53):
through which you see yourselfand which you see what's
possible in your life, you willbe out to lunch and you'll be an
easy target for the enemy.
And so, number one, I want to goto Romans 11, 29, which says
what, what, For God's gifts andhis call are irrevocable.
In other words, if God hascalled you to this, he has not
changed his mind.
God has not changed his mind.
(07:15):
Your inability to do everythingperfectly has not caused God to
pull back the gifts and say Ithought Sally was going to be
able to handle it, but she can'tdo it.
Boy, I thought Bob, I thoughtMatt, he was going to be able to
handle it, but look, he screwedup twice this week.
I better pull this calling andgive it to somebody else.
Nope, that is not the way itworks.
(07:35):
The gifts and callings of Godare without repentance.
They're irrevocable, they'reyours.
They came with a package God'snot pulling them back and so you
got to lean into that in faithand just say God, thank you that
I'm in this for the long hauland you're in this for the long
haul.
Also, look at Galatians 6, 9.
It says this let us not growweary in doing good and, I would
(07:58):
say, you know, in pursuing yourcalling as an artist.
Why?
For in due season we will reap.
If what?
If you don't give up.
So what's your job?
And my job is to be faithful,is to keep sowing, is to keep
working the ground, even if youdon't see the harvest yet.
That's the nature of thekingdom.
We are not responsible forproducing fruit in our life.
(08:21):
We're responsible for beingfaithful to the vine.
The vine is Jesus, right?
He said I'm the vine, You'rethe branches.
Apart from me, you can donothing, but with me you can do
anything right.
And so our job is not to try tobe squeezing out the fruit of
perfection all the time in ourlife, but it's to stay faithful
(08:42):
to the things that God hascalled us to, trusting that in
due season, he will bring forthfruit in the right place at the
right time.
And then I think Philippians 1.6is just always a huge
encouragement to me.
It says listen, he who began agood work in you will carry it
on to completion.
(09:02):
Other versions say he who begana good work in you is faithful
to complete it right.
In other words, God is notfinished.
You're on a divine trajectorywith him, and even when the road
gets rocky, and even when youstruggle, and even when you're
like I want to give up, this ishard, yes, it's hard.
If it was easy, everybody woulddo it right.
If it was easy, you could do itin your own strength.
(09:25):
And so the very fact thatyou're struggling, the very fact
that you can't do it byyourself, the very fact that you
can't do it, perfect every time, proves what that this ain't
about you.
This is God's story, and theonly way, listen, the only way
that you're going to be able towalk in the things that God has
called you to is by his spiritand through his strength.
(09:48):
And so, listen, you got to zoomout right.
You got to get out of the weeds, get out of the tactics, get
out of the frustration you know,zoom out and begin to realize,
hey, this is God's story.
These tactics and thesemarketing things and all this
stuff that so easily entanglesme.
They're important, they're apart of my calling as an artist,
(10:09):
but they are not the measuringstick of my worth or my identity
or my destiny in the Lord.
They're a training ground,right For perseverance and faith
.
And, just like you and I, whenwe're kids, right, we learn how
to walk.
We stand up, we take two steps,we fall right.
We learn how to walk, we standup, we take two steps, we fall
(10:29):
right.
I know that that's not easy totake.
As an adult, we want to thinkthat we're all smooth and we got
it all together, but that isjust not reality, and so I want
to give you three things today.
I think that will help youreally take in stride this whole
idea of tactical struggles notbeing something that's going to
(10:52):
get you in trouble when it comesto doubting the trajectory of
your life.
Number one I would say is thisrefocus your why.
In other words, on a regularbasis, hopefully every day when
you're taking time to be withthe Lord, be in his presence,
pray in the spirit, journaling,listening for his voice, Listen
one of the things that you needto be doing on a regular basis,
(11:14):
and I encourage people to dothis through a vision board,
through whatever it is that youdo that helps you remember who
you are in Christ and what he'scalled you to.
You need to remember who youare in the Lord, what your
calling is and what God hasspoken over your life.
You need to thank him for it.
God, thank you that I'm anartist.
(11:35):
Thank you that this is yourstory.
Thank you that I'm walking withyou by faith.
Thank you that, as I'm faithfulto you, I can trust that you're
going to be opening doors ofprovision and favor and
opportunity and resources andrelationships for everything I
need to be successful in theseason and in the assignment
that you've called me to.
That's got to be a daily,intentional focus of your life.
(12:01):
Second thing I would say is thisalways just be looking at the
next step, right, Don't be.
I know vision's important.
I know planning's important.
Listen, all of you that haveheard me talk for years about
90-day planning, yes, yes, yes,yes, yes, it's important, but
you can't fix everything at once, and so simplify your next step
(12:22):
right.
Look at the things that you'retrying to accomplish in your
life, in your art, in yourbusiness perhaps, and just say,
hey, what's the one thing that Ican do today to take the next
step?
All right, I think when you canlearn to just take step by step
by step by step, that makesthis walking with the Lord and
(12:45):
pursuing the trajectory of ourlife a whole lot easier.
And then the third thing I wouldsay is this you're not designed
to do this journey as an artistalone.
I know we all want to thinkthat we're Superman and
Superwoman, that we got it alltogether, that we can figure it
out on our own, but the bottomline is very, very few people
(13:05):
can do that.
And so I would say number threeget support, Find a community,
Find the coaching and mentoringthat you need, Find the courses
that you do.
Don't do this thing alone andlisten.
For some of you, that may be inyour local area, with an art
mentor in the specific artmedium that you're pursuing.
It may be your art council or agroup of your church or
(13:26):
whatever.
For others, and for thousandsof artists all over the world,
it's become the Created toThrive Artist Mentoring Program
or our Foundations Coursecommunity where you can learn to
connect with other artists wholove Jesus, who are on this
journey of development and whoare serious and intentional
about being everything that Godhas called them to be in their
(13:47):
life.
But listen, those three things,if you'll be faithful to do
those just refocusing your why,thanking God for who he is, what
he's called you to, simplifyingyour next step and making sure
that you're not trying to dothis thing alone, but walking
with support, man, those thingsmake all the difference.
(14:07):
Listen, I just want to remindyou again you are not behind.
No matter how behind you feel,no matter how disqualified you
feel, you're not disqualified.
You're not behind.
Listen, you're in process.
You're becoming everything thatGod designed for you to be and
I just want to encourage youdon't let these tactical
(14:27):
troubles detour the divinetrajectory that God has for your
life.
God has his hand on your life,His favor is on your life, he's
for you, he's not against you.
He's got good plans to prosperyou and not to harm you, to give
you a hope and a future.
So, listen, stay faithful in thelittle things and, just like it
says in Isaiah 30, 21, whetheryou turn to the right or to the
(14:50):
left, your ears will hear avoice behind you saying this is
the way.
Walk in it, Jesus.
I thank you today, Lord, thatyou are that voice behind us.
And even now, in the newcovenant God, you're the voice
within us, voice behind us.
And even now, in the newcovenant, God, you're the voice
within us.
Holy Spirit, you're livinginside of us, active and ready
to speak and to lead and toguide.
And, Holy Spirit, I ask thatyou would open the ears of our
(15:15):
spirit, open the eyes of ourheart, God, that we could see
and hear and sense what you'resaying and where you're leading,
so that we would be fullyconvinced, fully persuaded on
the inside, that the things thatyou've called us to and the way
that you've designed us is onpurpose, for your purpose, in
our generation and in thisseason of our life.
(15:35):
We thank you for that, God, inJesus name.
Amen.
Hey, I love you, my friend.
Be sure, make sure that you'resubscribed to the podcast so
that you don't miss any of theepisodes.
Also, make sure that you aresubscribed to the Thriving
Christian Artist Weekly.
It's our brand new weeklynewsletter that comes out with
(15:56):
encouragement, with tips, withbusiness and marketing with
spiritual and devotional itemsthat I'm giving you every week,
as well as featured artists thatwe're just featuring, to be
able to share the story of theirlife and how God's working in
their life.
Listen, you do not want to missit.
It's absolutely free.
You can get the link right herein the podcast and make sure
that you are subscribed to theThriving Christian Artist Weekly
(16:19):
and to this podcast.
Hey, I love you.
Thanks for being here andremember till next time.
You were created to thrive.
(16:40):
Bye episodes of the ThrivingChristian Artist podcast, and
also be sure to connect with meon Facebook, Instagram or at my
website, which ismatttommymentoringcom.
Until next time, remember.
You were created to thrive.
Bye-bye.
Welcome to the Thriving Christian Artist, the
podcast, where we hope youconnect with God to bust through
the roadblocks that have heldyou back for years, create the
work you love and really livethe life you know.
God created you to live as anartist in His kingdom.
I'm Matt Tama, your host.
Let's get started.
Well, hey, my friend, so gladthat you're with me today on the
(00:24):
podcast.
You know, over the years I'veseen so many artists, talented
artists, really great peoplejust give up this whole calling
that God's given them as anartist.
And it's not over huge thingsthat you might think it is.
In fact, it's actually what Iwould call tactics, the things
(00:45):
that we just have to do, thepracticalities of being an
artist.
But here's the deal as artists,it's so easy to get tripped up
right by the tactical strugglesthat we have, the business
challenges and the marketinghiccups or bombs or whatever,
the lack of focus, theself-doubt that all comes in.
(01:06):
Listen, all of those kind oftactical struggles that we're
always having to navigate.
They can be really difficultfor us internally and that
manifests externally in our life.
But listen, one of the thingsthe enemy wants to get you to do
is to allow those struggles todefine your calling and
ultimately, to define thetrajectory, if you will, of your
(01:28):
life.
And I just want to encourageyou today in today's podcast
don't let these temporarystruggles cloud your eternal
trajectory, this visionaryprocess that God has brought you
into, of developing you as anartist, of co-laboring with you
as his son, as his daughter, andalso moving into everything
(01:52):
that he has for you in your life.
Listen, I wish that I could sayI've never had this struggle at
all.
Actually, I would say the lasttwo years of my life have been
probably one of the biggeststruggles that I've had in
regards to tactics beingsomething that just about well,
(02:13):
I hate to admit it, but itreally just about put me out of
the game.
I was probably walked throughthe worst, biggest struggles
over the last couple of yearsthat I've walked through in my
life, primarily because of unmetexpectations.
Things didn't work out the wayI thought they were going to
work out.
If you've not noticed, themarketing world has completely
(02:36):
changed over the last few years.
The art world has completelychanged.
People are wanting differentthings, learning in different
ways.
Just the whole scene in whichI've been navigating very
successfully for a lot of yearsjust really, really changed and,
I'll be honest, it threw me fora loop and it caused me to
wonder has the trajectory of mylife changed, God?
(02:57):
Is this calling that you havefor me over?
Is the way that you'repositioning me in your kingdom?
Is that transitioning into awhole different realm?
It just caused a lot ofstruggle in my life, and so I'm
speaking to you today out of aplace of real I don't know.
Tenderness in my own heart, butalso a desire to say listen, if
(03:18):
I'm walking through this, Iknow a lot of you guys are
walking through it as well, andI hope that today is an
encouragement for you in thatregard.
Now, when you think about commonstruggles that we all face as
artists some of the big onesthat I see kind of psych people
out and again allowing tacticsto really overwhelm and throw
(03:39):
off your trajectory the mainones I see a lot of times
marketing confusion like how doyou even start getting your work
out there?
What's the things that areworking, what's not?
This constant need to be tryingthings and testing and
measuring that can befrustrating Business overwhelm,
right?
If you're trying to grow abusiness and you've never had a
(04:00):
successful business of any kindbefore.
Maybe you've been a teacher,maybe you've been a stay-at-home
parent, Maybe you've beensomebody that's in a completely
different job market or jobopportunity.
You've never owned your ownbusiness.
It can be a lot right to learnhow to do that.
That's one of the reasons whywe started the mentoring program
so many years ago is to laythat out and make it a much
(04:22):
easier step-by-step process.
But I get it, it's still a lotof stuff Life happening and
inconsistent studio time orinconsistent focus for your
artwork can really be a downerfor you.
It can be one of those thingsthat the enemy brings shame in
and a lot of frustration in.
I totally get that.
(04:43):
Also, I think pricing your work,selling your work, all the
stuff that goes around with thatnot a minute, not to mention,
you know, imposter syndrome,fear of failure all of those
things can really have an effecton your inner world, right, the
way that you perceive your life, your calling what's possible
(05:04):
and today I really want you tohear this from me you are not
failing when you struggle withany of that.
What's happening is you'regrowing right.
You're learning new things.
You're learning how to takesome things out of focus and put
other things into focus.
You're learning things you'venever done before.
So struggle does not mean thatyou're missing it or that you
(05:27):
have missed it, or that you'retoo late or somehow you're
disqualified.
No, it means that you're normal.
It means that you're walking itout.
It means that you are a humanbeing that's walking through a
process of development.
And if you're the kind of personlike I am, which often expects
perfection the first time youstart something, listen, you
(05:50):
just got to back up, take a deepbreath and give yourself some
grace, Because those tacticalstruggles, when the enemy comes
in in the middle of you having astruggle like that, it can
absolutely cause you to doubtyour calling.
Or maybe, if you're notdoubting your calling, maybe it
just causes you to feelabsolutely stuck and like you
don't even know what to do.
(06:10):
But again, I want to just goback to this God's calling for
your life is not being revokedor being totally limited by your
current ability or your currentperformance or your current
struggle.
Again, your current ability oryour current performance or your
current struggle Again, you'rehuman.
Your struggle in the middle ofthis and you're learning new
(06:33):
issues and you're maturing inyour gift is not making God
nervous in any way, shape orform.
And I think this is a greatopportunity, and we talk about
this kind of thing so much inour Foundations course and also
in the mentoring program.
You got to go back to Scripture, right.
Because if you don't allow theWord of God about this kind of
thing so much in our Foundationscourse and also in the
mentoring program, you got to goback to Scripture, right.
Because if you don't allow theWord of God to create the lens
(06:53):
through which you see yourselfand which you see what's
possible in your life, you willbe out to lunch and you'll be an
easy target for the enemy.
And so, number one, I want to goto Romans 11, 29, which says
what, what, For God's gifts andhis call are irrevocable.
In other words, if God hascalled you to this, he has not
changed his mind.
God has not changed his mind.
(07:15):
Your inability to do everythingperfectly has not caused God to
pull back the gifts and say Ithought Sally was going to be
able to handle it, but she can'tdo it.
Boy, I thought Bob, I thoughtMatt, he was going to be able to
handle it, but look, he screwedup twice this week.
I better pull this calling andgive it to somebody else.
Nope, that is not the way itworks.
(07:35):
The gifts and callings of Godare without repentance.
They're irrevocable, they'reyours.
They came with a package God'snot pulling them back and so you
got to lean into that in faithand just say God, thank you that
I'm in this for the long hauland you're in this for the long
haul.
Also, look at Galatians 6, 9.
It says this let us not growweary in doing good and, I would
(07:58):
say, you know, in pursuing yourcalling as an artist.
Why?
For in due season we will reap.
If what?
If you don't give up.
So what's your job?
And my job is to be faithful,is to keep sowing, is to keep
working the ground, even if youdon't see the harvest yet.
That's the nature of thekingdom.
We are not responsible forproducing fruit in our life.
(08:21):
We're responsible for beingfaithful to the vine.
The vine is Jesus, right?
He said I'm the vine, You'rethe branches.
Apart from me, you can donothing, but with me you can do
anything right.
And so our job is not to try tobe squeezing out the fruit of
perfection all the time in ourlife, but it's to stay faithful
(08:42):
to the things that God hascalled us to, trusting that in
due season, he will bring forthfruit in the right place at the
right time.
And then I think Philippians 1.6is just always a huge
encouragement to me.
It says listen, he who began agood work in you will carry it
on to completion.
(09:02):
Other versions say he who begana good work in you is faithful
to complete it right.
In other words, God is notfinished.
You're on a divine trajectorywith him, and even when the road
gets rocky, and even when youstruggle, and even when you're
like I want to give up, this ishard, yes, it's hard.
If it was easy, everybody woulddo it right.
If it was easy, you could do itin your own strength.
(09:25):
And so the very fact thatyou're struggling, the very fact
that you can't do it byyourself, the very fact that you
can't do it, perfect every time, proves what that this ain't
about you.
This is God's story, and theonly way, listen, the only way
that you're going to be able towalk in the things that God has
called you to is by his spiritand through his strength.
(09:48):
And so, listen, you got to zoomout right.
You got to get out of the weeds, get out of the tactics, get
out of the frustration you know,zoom out and begin to realize,
hey, this is God's story.
These tactics and thesemarketing things and all this
stuff that so easily entanglesme.
They're important, they're apart of my calling as an artist,
(10:09):
but they are not the measuringstick of my worth or my identity
or my destiny in the Lord.
They're a training ground,right For perseverance and faith
.
And, just like you and I, whenwe're kids, right, we learn how
to walk.
We stand up, we take two steps,we fall right.
We learn how to walk, we standup, we take two steps, we fall
(10:29):
right.
I know that that's not easy totake.
As an adult, we want to thinkthat we're all smooth and we got
it all together, but that isjust not reality, and so I want
to give you three things today.
I think that will help youreally take in stride this whole
idea of tactical struggles notbeing something that's going to
(10:52):
get you in trouble when it comesto doubting the trajectory of
your life.
Number one I would say is thisrefocus your why.
In other words, on a regularbasis, hopefully every day when
you're taking time to be withthe Lord, be in his presence,
pray in the spirit, journaling,listening for his voice, Listen
one of the things that you needto be doing on a regular basis,
(11:14):
and I encourage people to dothis through a vision board,
through whatever it is that youdo that helps you remember who
you are in Christ and what he'scalled you to.
You need to remember who youare in the Lord, what your
calling is and what God hasspoken over your life.
You need to thank him for it.
God, thank you that I'm anartist.
(11:35):
Thank you that this is yourstory.
Thank you that I'm walking withyou by faith.
Thank you that, as I'm faithfulto you, I can trust that you're
going to be opening doors ofprovision and favor and
opportunity and resources andrelationships for everything I
need to be successful in theseason and in the assignment
that you've called me to.
That's got to be a daily,intentional focus of your life.
(12:01):
Second thing I would say is thisalways just be looking at the
next step, right, Don't be.
I know vision's important.
I know planning's important.
Listen, all of you that haveheard me talk for years about
90-day planning, yes, yes, yes,yes, yes, it's important, but
you can't fix everything at once, and so simplify your next step
(12:22):
right.
Look at the things that you'retrying to accomplish in your
life, in your art, in yourbusiness perhaps, and just say,
hey, what's the one thing that Ican do today to take the next
step?
All right, I think when you canlearn to just take step by step
by step by step, that makesthis walking with the Lord and
(12:45):
pursuing the trajectory of ourlife a whole lot easier.
And then the third thing I wouldsay is this you're not designed
to do this journey as an artistalone.
I know we all want to thinkthat we're Superman and
Superwoman, that we got it alltogether, that we can figure it
out on our own, but the bottomline is very, very few people
(13:05):
can do that.
And so I would say number threeget support, Find a community,
Find the coaching and mentoringthat you need, Find the courses
that you do.
Don't do this thing alone andlisten.
For some of you, that may be inyour local area, with an art
mentor in the specific artmedium that you're pursuing.
It may be your art council or agroup of your church or
(13:26):
whatever.
For others, and for thousandsof artists all over the world,
it's become the Created toThrive Artist Mentoring Program
or our Foundations Coursecommunity where you can learn to
connect with other artists wholove Jesus, who are on this
journey of development and whoare serious and intentional
about being everything that Godhas called them to be in their
(13:47):
life.
But listen, those three things,if you'll be faithful to do
those just refocusing your why,thanking God for who he is, what
he's called you to, simplifyingyour next step and making sure
that you're not trying to dothis thing alone, but walking
with support, man, those thingsmake all the difference.
(14:07):
Listen, I just want to remindyou again you are not behind.
No matter how behind you feel,no matter how disqualified you
feel, you're not disqualified.
You're not behind.
Listen, you're in process.
You're becoming everything thatGod designed for you to be and
I just want to encourage youdon't let these tactical
(14:27):
troubles detour the divinetrajectory that God has for your
life.
God has his hand on your life,His favor is on your life, he's
for you, he's not against you.
He's got good plans to prosperyou and not to harm you, to give
you a hope and a future.
So, listen, stay faithful in thelittle things and, just like it
says in Isaiah 30, 21, whetheryou turn to the right or to the
(14:50):
left, your ears will hear avoice behind you saying this is
the way.
Walk in it, Jesus.
I thank you today, Lord, thatyou are that voice behind us.
And even now, in the newcovenant God, you're the voice
within us, voice behind us.
And even now, in the newcovenant, God, you're the voice
within us.
Holy Spirit, you're livinginside of us, active and ready
to speak and to lead and toguide.
And, Holy Spirit, I ask thatyou would open the ears of our
(15:15):
spirit, open the eyes of ourheart, God, that we could see
and hear and sense what you'resaying and where you're leading,
so that we would be fullyconvinced, fully persuaded on
the inside, that the things thatyou've called us to and the way
that you've designed us is onpurpose, for your purpose, in
our generation and in thisseason of our life.
(15:35):
We thank you for that, God, inJesus name.
Amen.
Hey, I love you, my friend.
Be sure, make sure that you'resubscribed to the podcast so
that you don't miss any of theepisodes.
Also, make sure that you aresubscribed to the Thriving
Christian Artist Weekly.
It's our brand new weeklynewsletter that comes out with
(15:56):
encouragement, with tips, withbusiness and marketing with
spiritual and devotional itemsthat I'm giving you every week,
as well as featured artists thatwe're just featuring, to be
able to share the story of theirlife and how God's working in
their life.
Listen, you do not want to missit.
It's absolutely free.
You can get the link right herein the podcast and make sure
that you are subscribed to theThriving Christian Artist Weekly
(16:19):
and to this podcast.
Hey, I love you.
Thanks for being here andremember till next time.
You were created to thrive.
(16:40):
Bye episodes of the ThrivingChristian Artist podcast, and
also be sure to connect with meon Facebook, Instagram or at my
website, which ismatttommymentoringcom.
Until next time, remember.
You were created to thrive.
Bye-bye.
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