October 7, 2025 • 25 mins
Feeling called to create but unsure of the path ahead? We explore the tension every faith-filled artist knows: trusting God’s plan when the studio feels quiet and the roadmap isn’t obvious. From the first spark of calling to the slow, stretching seasons where nothing seems to move, we unpack why hiddenness isn’t failure—it’s formation—and how to keep showing up with peace, clarity, and courage.
Matt shares three anchors that reframe the journey. First, your creativity is not random; it’s assignment—Ephesians 2:10 names you God’s poema, designed to reveal His heart through your work. Second, hidden seasons still count; Scripture shows a pattern of preparation before platform, where God loosens our grip on applause and strengthens our ear for His voice. Third, faithfulness comes before fruitfulness; the Kingdom order shifts our metrics from speed and sales to obedience and steady craft, trusting God with timing and reach.
To put this into practice, we walk through the Core Four Focus Framework—a daily rhythm to anchor your creative life. Connect with God and recall His promises over your identity and work. Clarify the one essential priority for the day. Create by showing up in the studio—ten minutes or ten hours—letting inspiration follow action. Cultivate relationships with peers, collectors, and your audience so you live like a river, not a pond. We close with a prayer for grace, resilience, and trust in the pace God sets, and invite you to take next steps with resources that help renew your mind, heal your heart, and build sustainable rhythms for your art and your faith.
If this resonates, subscribe for weekly encouragement, share this with an artist who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway—what’s your “one thing” you’ll do today?
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hey, have you ever felt like God gave you this
creative gift to be an artist,but somehow He uh forgot to give
you the roadmap?
Listen, we've we've all beenthere.
And it can be frustrating to beshowing up in your studio every
day, trusting God, praying,believing the best.
But when you look around, youjust don't see much happening.
And you start to wonder like,did I miss it?
Did I get it wrong?
Is this not God's plan for mylife?
(00:21):
Listen, we have all been there.
And today I want to help youlearn how to trust God's plan
for your creative journey,especially in those times in
life where you can't yet see allthat he's doing.
Today on The Thriving ChristianArtist, all over the world,
artists are awakening, paintersand potters, writers and
weavers, poets and dancers, notchasing followers or fame, but
(00:42):
sons and daughters called forsuch a time as this, transformed
from the inside out, creatingwith purpose, releasing the
glory of God, and living in thepower of the kingdom right now.
This is the Thriving ChristianArtist.
Well, hey, friend, I'm MattTommy.
Super glad that you're herewhere every week I'm creating
great content to help artistsjust like you who love Jesus
(01:05):
thrive in everything that God'scalled them to do as an artist
in the kingdom.
And listen, today we're talkingabout this idea of learning to
trust God's plan for ourcreative journey.
And can I just say uh it is notfor the faint of heart?
I think all of us that loveJesus realize that there are
always seasons in our lifewhere, you know, sometimes we
fully get what God's doing andwe can see it, and man, we can
(01:27):
feel the momentum and it'sgreat.
And there are other seasons,many times transitional seasons
in our life, where we, no matterhow much we're praying, no
matter how much we're leaninginto what we feel God's got for
us, we just can't see his handat work.
And I don't know about you, butthose are times that really can
stretch me, uh, not only as anartist, but also as a believer.
(01:47):
Uh, it can be a difficult time.
It can be also a time that theenemy wants to come in and and
take advantage of those doubtsand fears and feelings that can
can feel like they overwhelm us.
You know, I I remember uhseveral years ago walking
through a season of transitionwhere I felt like God was, you
know, asking me to let go of onething in order to take hold of
the next thing.
(02:08):
And I don't know about you, Iwould just love for that to be a
quick linear process, right?
Yeah, just let go of this andstep into that.
But most of the time, God is isleading us through a process
where he's not forgotten us, buthe's actually forming us.
He's using these situations ofdarkness and he's using these
situations where we can't yetsee fully all the things that
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he's doing uh in our lives asartists.
We can't yet quite see the placethat he's leading us to.
He's using those things to formus deeply in our faith, to where
we learn to walk with him.
Because I've just learned this,my friend.
You have to learn to walk withGod in the unseen times before
you can walk with God in the inthe in the things that are seen.
(02:53):
And that is absolutelyantithetical to the way most of
us like to live.
You know, most of us want tosay, God, show me and I'll step
out.
And God says, Well, actually, ifyou'll step out, then I'll begin
to show you.
And it's learning to walk withGod in those times of formation
and learning to trust him thathe's teaching us to follow uh
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not only his plan for our life,but also the pace of that
journey.
And if you're like me, I wantthat pace to be fast.
I want it to be, I want it to bequick, I want to be able to see
all the twists and turns alongthe way.
But part of learning uh how towalk through these seasons of
trusting God's plan for our lifein the unseen is realizing that
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these seasons where we can't seeeverything, the seasons where
everything are not clear, theseare the beautiful seasons where
God is shaping us and forming usand preparing uh us for the next
incredible thing that God's gotfor us in our life.
So I want to give you three uhreally foundational principles
today that are gonna help youhelp anchor your heart in these
(04:03):
times, especially when you'retrying to trust God's plan for
your journey, but you can'tquite see it.
And the first thing is thisnumber one, God has called you
as an artist on purpose.
It's really, really importantfor you to realize that God did
not give you this creative gifton accident.
You just didn't come up with iton your own.
(04:24):
It's not random, it's notoptional.
Listen, this is part of God'sdesign for your life.
And in fact, if you've heard metalk at all, you know, I love
going back to Ephesians 2.10that always says, we are God's
workmanship, created in ChristJesus to do good works, what?
Which God is prepared in inadvance for us to do.
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In other words, this thing thatwe do as an artist, showing up
in the studio and and creating,learning to imagine with Him and
take those imaginings and mix itwith the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit and uh release thosethrough the work of our hands,
this is not just something thatwe came up with.
This is God's plan and purposefor our life.
(05:06):
And so you got to realize thatwhen you can't see things, when
you're trying to figure outGod's God's plan and purpose and
things are not working outexactly the way you thought,
it's easy.
Come on, it's easy to doubt.
Well, am I really an artist?
Is God this really what God'scalled me to do?
Um, you got to realize that thatword workmanship that's there in
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Ephesians Ephesians 2.10, it'sactually poema, which is God's
poem, his artistic expression.
In other words, we are designedto be the expression of God in
the earth.
You are, and I am, how revivalis supposed to happen.
You are, and I am the vesselthrough which God wants to
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release his kingdom and hisnature and his transforming
power.
And that is so huge.
And learning to create with God,not just for God, is actually
how the kingdom of God works,that we see and agree with him,
right?
We see the things and we sensewhat God is saying in our
imagination and in the spirit.
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We agree with it in our heartand then we release it through
the work of our hands, throughthe words of our mouth, through
the desires of our heart, thesongs that we sing, the movies
that we write, the books that wewrite, the art that we create.
This is how creativity happens.
And so this creativity is notseparate from any calling that
God has for you.
No matter if you're called as anartist or in in other areas, the
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creative process is how thekingdom of God gets manifested
in the earth.
And in seasons where we'retrying to really lean into and
trust God's creative plan forour life when we can't see, it's
really important to realizecreativity is not separate from
that.
This is how God wants to do it.
And so when the process isfeeling slow or unclear or a
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little muddy, like I'm not surequite what is going on, you have
to remind yourself, I'm stillcalled, even when I feel unseen.
Listen, that is a really, reallybig challenge for artists
because part of what God's givenus as our gifting is to be seen,
to create works that would beseen, to create demonstrations
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of his glory, to create art thatbecomes an intersection point, a
means of grace.
And when you're in a seasonwhere you feel like that's not
happening, it can be a struggle.
But you gotta, this is where wego deep, guys.
This is where we lean into theLord and we say, Lord, even
though I don't feel like whatI'm doing is being seen, even
though I know that that uh youknow you've got plans and
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purposes for me, but I don't seethe full working of that, I know
that you are working all thingstogether for my good.
I know that you are forming mein the foundations of my heart.
And I trust that even thoughwhat I'm doing is not being seen
on a wide scale right now, Iknow that I am your poema, your
workmanship.
Listen, you got to drive thathome and remind yourself of who
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God has created you to be.
All right.
So key number two then in thatis realizing that if you're in
one of these hidden uh seasons,hidden seasons still count.
Hidden seasons do not mean thatyou're not following God, that
he's not you know working inyour life.
Hidden seasons are still just asmuch a part of your journey in
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the kingdom as seasons whereyou're walking and in in in
seasons where everybody can seewhat you're doing and and you
get the applause and you get therecognition and and you can
really feel the momentum.
Listen, hidden seasons are justas important.
But I listen, I get it.
I'm just like you.
Nobody likes the seasons ofwaiting.
Nobody likes, nobody likes thehidden seasons.
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We want to feel like what we'redoing is effective and efficient
and and like God's making animpact in it.
But listen, I want to remind youthat God, every every person in
the Bible that God has used in apowerful way, they have gone
through seasons of being hidden.
You look at David, he wasanointed way back when he was
(09:10):
tending sheep, but it was yearsbefore he stepped into the
calling to be, you know, theking that God had called him to.
Jesus was 30 before his publicministry started, before the
miracles started in his life,right?
30 years of faithfulness, 30years of probably having to
remind himself who he was andwhat he was called to do, 30
(09:32):
years of standing on thepromises that my father sent me
here for a reason and a purpose,even though I don't see it right
now.
Even Bezalel, right, who's thefirst artist that we see
highlighted in scripture, he wasfilled with the Spirit of God
before he ever did anything.
Right?
You got to realize that there'sa there's a calling and a
(09:54):
purpose and a plan for your lifethat's given to you by God
before you ever do anything,before everybody anybody ever
sees anything that you do.
And so you got to realize thesehidden seasons are not separate
from God.
These hidden seasons don't meanthat you've done anything wrong.
Hear that.
(10:14):
Hear that really good.
Shame wants to come in and say,if you're in a hidden season,
you've done something wrong.
If you're in a hidden season,you've made God mad.
If you're in a hidden season,there's something wrong with you
that God's got to fix.
And no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Listen, hidden seasons are arethese seasons that that God is
(10:34):
forming.
And yeah, he may be knocking offsome of the rough edges, but
he's also teaching you how tohear his voice, how to how to
not be controlled and moved bythe accolades of man, but how to
listen to his voice, how to beclear on what he's saying for
you to do in that in thatseason, how to be clear on who
you are in him, not based onwhat other people say, and not
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based on the accolades of manand accolades of the art
community.
He's teaching you in thesetimes.
And so listen, if you're in thatseason right now, like we have
always been, you've got tolisten, trust me and trust God.
These seasons are not wasted.
God is shaping your character,he's shaping your dependence on
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him, and he's also shaping yourobedience.
He's he's teaching you in thesetimes how to step out in seasons
where it doesn't make sense toyour natural mind.
And all of that is a big part ofyou being formed.
So don't allow the enemy to saythat if you're in a hidden
season, you're stuck, you'rebroken, you're finished, uh, you
(11:40):
know, somehow, somehowsomething's wrong.
No, you're in a season ofpreparation, you're in a season
of formation.
And listen, there are there arethings I've just learned in my
life, there are things that Godcan do.
There's space in seasons ofwaiting where you can experience
God in such a beautiful way thatwhen things are rolling and fast
(12:00):
and the momentum's going and thefavors there, and you're
walking, some sometimes thoseseasons get so busy and we lose
the spaciousness of what can bebeautiful in a hidden season.
So don't ever feel like thoseare a waste.
Those are absolutely on purpose,and they're a big part of
learning to trust God's plan foryour creative journey in your
life.
(12:21):
All right.
Now, number three is thisfaithfulness always comes before
fruitfulness.
You know, what does the Biblesay?
Even in Genesis, be fruitful andwhat?
Then multiply.
Be fruitful and multiply.
We listen, be honest.
We all want the multiplicationbefore we get the fruitfulness,
right?
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We all want the fruit.
We we all want the result, butbut we we want the recognition
and the sales and the momentumand the accolades and the awards
and all that kind of stuff.
But but God, again, this is partof how he's forming us in this
creative journey and how we'relearning to trust him.
He wants us to be faithful.
He's asking us for faithfulness.
He's in other words, he's usingthese hidden seasons and these
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seasons that don't always makesense.
He's using these to teach youand to draw you into
faithfulness and to get yourheart to be connected to
faithfulness and trust him forthe fruitfulness.
I love it in Luke 16, 10 whereit says this it says, For for
whoever is faithful in littlewill be faithful in much.
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You know, you can look in uh inMatthew 25, the parable of the
talents.
Jesus said, Uh, well done, goodand faithful servant.
You've been faithful withlittle.
Now I'm gonna what?
I'm gonna make you ruler overmuch.
But you gotta realize you'renever gonna get the much, you're
never gonna get themultiplication unless you learn
to trust God in these hiddenseasons in faithfulness.
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And listen, I know, I know, Iknow, I know, I know you want it
to go faster, I want it to gofaster, I know you want to make
a bigger impact, I want to makea bigger impact, but you gotta
realize the speed and the paceof the journey and the impact on
your journey.
We realize as believers, wecan't engineer that ourselves.
That is God.
It's the Bible says it's Godthat that brings promotion.
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Promotion doesn't come from thenorth, south, east, or west, but
it's from the Lord.
The Lord is the one whoestablishes, the Lord is the one
that brings fruitfulness throughour lives as we are faithful.
And so, what's our job in that?
Our job is to keep showing up,to keep making in the studio, to
be faithful to the things thatthat God's showing us, to make
adjustments where we're needed,to keep trusting.
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And listen, I had to learn along time ago, and maybe this is
gonna be a revelation for youtoday.
God's plan for my life was notabout launching me out into you
know all this impact.
God's plan for my life was toform me into the image of Christ
and anchor me into him first.
And listen, if we can do that,if we can allow our heart to be
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healed and allow our mind to berenewed to the truth and allow
our very identity to be anchoredin him first, listen, there's no
there's no limits to what Godwill do with you, but don't ever
get the cart before the horse.
If you start getting the cartbefore the horse thinking, oh
God, I want to make an impact.
I want to do all these thingsfor you, he says, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah.
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We'll get to all that.
And I got plans and purposes foryou with that, but it starts in
the place of anchoring.
It starts in the place offaithfulness.
And I don't, I don't know aboutyou, but maybe that's part of
why you're feeling frustrationright now.
I know that's been a big part ofmy journey, is when I'm feeling
this resistance and thisfrustration and learning to
trust God in my creativejourney.
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Most of the time it's becausethings are not happening fast
enough or in the way that Ithink they ought to happen.
And it's a perfect time to rollit back, to take a deep breath,
and to get into the just ahealthy rhythm of life of
anchoring myself in the Lord.
Now, listen, I want to reallydrive that home to you because
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learning to anchor yourself inthe Lord is not just a one-time
decision.
Learn to trust God in yourcreative journey is not just a
one-time decision.
It is a daily rhythm.
And I developed something yearsago that we use in our Creative
to Thrive Artist Mentoringprogram called the Core Four
Focus Framework.
And it is this simple rhythm.
I want to give it to you rightnow.
That's that's a simple rhythmthat you can do every day.
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That I think is one of the bestrhythms that you can do to
anchor yourself in the Lord andto keep yourself focused as
you're learning to trust God'splan for your life.
All right.
So I walk that through with youtoday.
The first part of this isconnect.
Every day we start our day withconnecting with the Lord.
Just you and Him, right?
No pressure the day.
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No, I got to get into it.
No, no performing.
We're just focused on hispresence.
And while you're connecting withhim, part of that is worship,
part of that is reading hisword.
But a big part of that I foundin my own journey is reminding
myself of what God has alreadysaid about me, to me, in his
word, uh, prophetic promisesthat he's given me, um, you
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know, vision that he's put on myheart, things that I know like
are for me in this season.
I have to remind myself of that.
And you know why we remindourselves of that?
Because it's through thepromises of God that we
participate in the abundant lifethat God's called us to.
Second Peter 1, 3 and 4 saysthis it's through the very great
and precious promises of Godthat we participate in the
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divine nature.
All right, it's through thosepromises.
And so part of connecting withGod every day and learning to
live in a place of trust in yourcreative journey is reminding
yourself who you are in Christ,what God's called you to, what
he's promised you, how he'sdesigned you, the things that
he's called you to.
Listen, and if you got to dothat with a vision board, you
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want to do that with affirmationcards, you want to write it in
your journal, you know, whateveryou want to do, reminding
yourself of who you are inChrist and connecting with the
Father every day.
That is a huge, primary,foundational part of anchoring
yourself in Christ.
All right.
Secondly, then, out of thatplace of connection, the thing
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that you want to do, and I thatI'd recommend that you do in
developing this daily rhythm oflearning to trust him, is to
clarify.
Clarify what's important today.
In other words, God, I'vereminded myself of who you are.
I've taken time with you.
Now, Lord, in alignment with whoI am and the season I've been
and what you've called me to do,what is it for today?
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What's the one thing that's onmy list today that you want to,
that I want to make sure I getdone?
What's the what's the mainpriority?
One clear focus.
Now you may say, well, I got 10things I need to do.
Listen, ask the Lord for the onething.
If you get his one thing done, Ipromise you all the other stuff
will come a whole lot faster.
All right.
Number three, then, is create.
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For an artist, we have to showup in the studio every day,
right?
Artists create.
And I don't care if it's 10minutes or 10 hours.
Don't wait to be inspired,right?
Realize that inspiration comesas we show up faithful in the
studio, right?
The flow of the Holy Spiritshows up as you show up.
And so create from a place ofobedience, not out of pressure,
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but out of a place that justsays, you know what?
I'm an artist, and artistscreate, and I'm gonna be
faithful to the thing that Godhas called me to do.
That's part of creating thisdaily rhythm of trusting God in
the journey.
That even though I can't see it,even though I can't feel it,
even though I don't see all theaccolades and all the impact
right now, I'm gonna show upfaithful.
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I'm gonna do the thing thatGod's called me to do.
And then the last thing iscultivate.
And I think, again, no matterwhether you're in a hidden
season, a transitional season, aseason of impact and influence,
whatever, God calls us tocultivate relationships with
people that are that are in ourlife.
That may be other audience, uhother artists, that may be the
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audience that God's given you onsocial media or on your website.
There may be fellow artists orcollectors, yeah, whoever that
is, you need to be creating andevery day and connecting with
them in a way that's meaningful,sharing your work, sharing your
journey, sharing things thatGod's showing you along the way.
That that allows you, I don'tknow, for me, it allows me to be
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a river, not a pond, right?
Instead of just receiving,receiving, receiving and never
giving it out, cultivatingrelationships allows me to
release the things that God'sshowing me on a regular basis,
both in my creative journey andin my spiritual life.
And that is just really, reallyimportant.
Listen, my friend, I hope thisencourages you today that as
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you'll begin to do these thingsof learning to cultivate this
daily habits in your creativejourney, you can absolutely
trust God in your creativejourney.
You can trust his plan even whenyou can't see it.
So listen, wherever you areright now, I want to invite you,
just would you close your eyesfor a second and just let me
pray this prayer over you?
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Father, I thank you right nowthat even in seasons where we
can't see, Lord, you are workingall things together for our
good.
And God, God, I pray right nowfor my friend that's this
listening and watching, Lord, Ipray for great grace to rise up
within them, great confidence,not in themselves, not in what
they can do, but God in yourpurposes and plans for them.
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Holy Spirit, remind us of who weare in you.
Form us into the image ofChrist.
Bring faith in our heart that wewould trust the pace of our
journey and the goodness of ourFather to work all things
together and to put us in theplace that he has for us, that
we could accomplish every goodthing that he's already planned
for us before we were everformed.
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We thank you for that, Lord, inJesus' name.
Amen.
Listen, friend, thank you forbeing with me.
I hope you'll make sure thatyou're subscribed so that you
never miss any of the contentthat I'm bringing to you every
week.
Also, if if you want to grow inyour creative journey as an
artist, somebody that lovesJesus, but you want to learn how
to create these habits, you wantto learn how to renew your mind,
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you want to allow the HolySpirit to heal your heart from
some of the things that have youknow have held you back for a
lot of years and learn how toreally start thriving as the
artist that God's called you tobe.
I want to encourage you, uh,check out all the resources that
are here in uh the show notes,our foundations course, which
God's using to transform thelives of artists all over the
world.
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It's a nine-week course withdaily scripture, art prompts,
community, incredible teachingthat goes really, really deep in
helping you to grow ineverything that God's called you
to do.
Uh, whether it's our core fourplanner, uh, you know, you may
want to grab one of those andstart actually implementing on a
daily basis uh this core fourframework that I'm teaching, uh,
or even being a part of ourweekly newsletter where I'm
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sending out great content rightinto your email box to help you
grow as an artist.
We've got lots and lots ofdifferent ways for you to grow
in your calling as an artist inGod's kingdom.
And it'd be my great honor to beable to be a part of your
journey.
I love you, my friend.
Thanks for being here.
Be sure to leave me a commentand let me know that this was
meaningful to you.
Let me know if you got anyquestions.
I'm always happy to answer them.
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I read everyone personally, anduh be my honor to answer that
for you.
And remember, until next time,you were created to thrive.
Bye.
Hey, my friend, before you go,make sure that you're signed up
for the Thriving ChristianArtist Weekly.
It's my free newsletter full ofspiritual encouragement,
creative inspiration, andpractical tips to help you
(23:27):
thrive in everything that God'scalled you to do as an artist in
his kingdom.
Every issue is absolutely free,and it includes the latest
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everything that God's got foryou as an artist in the kingdom.
You can click the link righthere in the show notes to join
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us, and it's a great way to stayconnected.
All right, love you.
Bye.
Hey, have you ever felt like God gave you this
creative gift to be an artist,but somehow He uh forgot to give
you the roadmap?
Listen, we've we've all beenthere.
And it can be frustrating to beshowing up in your studio every
day, trusting God, praying,believing the best.
But when you look around, youjust don't see much happening.
And you start to wonder like,did I miss it?
Did I get it wrong?
Is this not God's plan for mylife?
(00:21):
Listen, we have all been there.
And today I want to help youlearn how to trust God's plan
for your creative journey,especially in those times in
life where you can't yet see allthat he's doing.
Today on The Thriving ChristianArtist, all over the world,
artists are awakening, paintersand potters, writers and
weavers, poets and dancers, notchasing followers or fame, but
(00:42):
sons and daughters called forsuch a time as this, transformed
from the inside out, creatingwith purpose, releasing the
glory of God, and living in thepower of the kingdom right now.
This is the Thriving ChristianArtist.
Well, hey, friend, I'm MattTommy.
Super glad that you're herewhere every week I'm creating
great content to help artistsjust like you who love Jesus
(01:05):
thrive in everything that God'scalled them to do as an artist
in the kingdom.
And listen, today we're talkingabout this idea of learning to
trust God's plan for ourcreative journey.
And can I just say uh it is notfor the faint of heart?
I think all of us that loveJesus realize that there are
always seasons in our lifewhere, you know, sometimes we
fully get what God's doing andwe can see it, and man, we can
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feel the momentum and it'sgreat.
And there are other seasons,many times transitional seasons
in our life, where we, no matterhow much we're praying, no
matter how much we're leaninginto what we feel God's got for
us, we just can't see his handat work.
And I don't know about you, butthose are times that really can
stretch me, uh, not only as anartist, but also as a believer.
(01:47):
Uh, it can be a difficult time.
It can be also a time that theenemy wants to come in and and
take advantage of those doubtsand fears and feelings that can
can feel like they overwhelm us.
You know, I I remember uhseveral years ago walking
through a season of transitionwhere I felt like God was, you
know, asking me to let go of onething in order to take hold of
the next thing.
(02:08):
And I don't know about you, Iwould just love for that to be a
quick linear process, right?
Yeah, just let go of this andstep into that.
But most of the time, God is isleading us through a process
where he's not forgotten us, buthe's actually forming us.
He's using these situations ofdarkness and he's using these
situations where we can't yetsee fully all the things that
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he's doing uh in our lives asartists.
We can't yet quite see the placethat he's leading us to.
He's using those things to formus deeply in our faith, to where
we learn to walk with him.
Because I've just learned this,my friend.
You have to learn to walk withGod in the unseen times before
you can walk with God in the inthe in the things that are seen.
(02:53):
And that is absolutelyantithetical to the way most of
us like to live.
You know, most of us want tosay, God, show me and I'll step
out.
And God says, Well, actually, ifyou'll step out, then I'll begin
to show you.
And it's learning to walk withGod in those times of formation
and learning to trust him thathe's teaching us to follow uh
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not only his plan for our life,but also the pace of that
journey.
And if you're like me, I wantthat pace to be fast.
I want it to be, I want it to bequick, I want to be able to see
all the twists and turns alongthe way.
But part of learning uh how towalk through these seasons of
trusting God's plan for our lifein the unseen is realizing that
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these seasons where we can't seeeverything, the seasons where
everything are not clear, theseare the beautiful seasons where
God is shaping us and forming usand preparing uh us for the next
incredible thing that God's gotfor us in our life.
So I want to give you three uhreally foundational principles
today that are gonna help youhelp anchor your heart in these
(04:03):
times, especially when you'retrying to trust God's plan for
your journey, but you can'tquite see it.
And the first thing is thisnumber one, God has called you
as an artist on purpose.
It's really, really importantfor you to realize that God did
not give you this creative gifton accident.
You just didn't come up with iton your own.
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It's not random, it's notoptional.
Listen, this is part of God'sdesign for your life.
And in fact, if you've heard metalk at all, you know, I love
going back to Ephesians 2.10that always says, we are God's
workmanship, created in ChristJesus to do good works, what?
Which God is prepared in inadvance for us to do.
(04:45):
In other words, this thing thatwe do as an artist, showing up
in the studio and and creating,learning to imagine with Him and
take those imaginings and mix itwith the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit and uh release thosethrough the work of our hands,
this is not just something thatwe came up with.
This is God's plan and purposefor our life.
(05:06):
And so you got to realize thatwhen you can't see things, when
you're trying to figure outGod's God's plan and purpose and
things are not working outexactly the way you thought,
it's easy.
Come on, it's easy to doubt.
Well, am I really an artist?
Is God this really what God'scalled me to do?
Um, you got to realize that thatword workmanship that's there in
(05:27):
Ephesians Ephesians 2.10, it'sactually poema, which is God's
poem, his artistic expression.
In other words, we are designedto be the expression of God in
the earth.
You are, and I am, how revivalis supposed to happen.
You are, and I am the vesselthrough which God wants to
(05:48):
release his kingdom and hisnature and his transforming
power.
And that is so huge.
And learning to create with God,not just for God, is actually
how the kingdom of God works,that we see and agree with him,
right?
We see the things and we sensewhat God is saying in our
imagination and in the spirit.
(06:09):
We agree with it in our heartand then we release it through
the work of our hands, throughthe words of our mouth, through
the desires of our heart, thesongs that we sing, the movies
that we write, the books that wewrite, the art that we create.
This is how creativity happens.
And so this creativity is notseparate from any calling that
God has for you.
No matter if you're called as anartist or in in other areas, the
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creative process is how thekingdom of God gets manifested
in the earth.
And in seasons where we'retrying to really lean into and
trust God's creative plan forour life when we can't see, it's
really important to realizecreativity is not separate from
that.
This is how God wants to do it.
And so when the process isfeeling slow or unclear or a
(06:56):
little muddy, like I'm not surequite what is going on, you have
to remind yourself, I'm stillcalled, even when I feel unseen.
Listen, that is a really, reallybig challenge for artists
because part of what God's givenus as our gifting is to be seen,
to create works that would beseen, to create demonstrations
(07:18):
of his glory, to create art thatbecomes an intersection point, a
means of grace.
And when you're in a seasonwhere you feel like that's not
happening, it can be a struggle.
But you gotta, this is where wego deep, guys.
This is where we lean into theLord and we say, Lord, even
though I don't feel like whatI'm doing is being seen, even
though I know that that uh youknow you've got plans and
(07:40):
purposes for me, but I don't seethe full working of that, I know
that you are working all thingstogether for my good.
I know that you are forming mein the foundations of my heart.
And I trust that even thoughwhat I'm doing is not being seen
on a wide scale right now, Iknow that I am your poema, your
workmanship.
Listen, you got to drive thathome and remind yourself of who
(08:02):
God has created you to be.
All right.
So key number two then in thatis realizing that if you're in
one of these hidden uh seasons,hidden seasons still count.
Hidden seasons do not mean thatyou're not following God, that
he's not you know working inyour life.
Hidden seasons are still just asmuch a part of your journey in
(08:26):
the kingdom as seasons whereyou're walking and in in in
seasons where everybody can seewhat you're doing and and you
get the applause and you get therecognition and and you can
really feel the momentum.
Listen, hidden seasons are justas important.
But I listen, I get it.
I'm just like you.
Nobody likes the seasons ofwaiting.
Nobody likes, nobody likes thehidden seasons.
(08:48):
We want to feel like what we'redoing is effective and efficient
and and like God's making animpact in it.
But listen, I want to remind youthat God, every every person in
the Bible that God has used in apowerful way, they have gone
through seasons of being hidden.
You look at David, he wasanointed way back when he was
(09:10):
tending sheep, but it was yearsbefore he stepped into the
calling to be, you know, theking that God had called him to.
Jesus was 30 before his publicministry started, before the
miracles started in his life,right?
30 years of faithfulness, 30years of probably having to
remind himself who he was andwhat he was called to do, 30
(09:32):
years of standing on thepromises that my father sent me
here for a reason and a purpose,even though I don't see it right
now.
Even Bezalel, right, who's thefirst artist that we see
highlighted in scripture, he wasfilled with the Spirit of God
before he ever did anything.
Right?
You got to realize that there'sa there's a calling and a
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purpose and a plan for your lifethat's given to you by God
before you ever do anything,before everybody anybody ever
sees anything that you do.
And so you got to realize thesehidden seasons are not separate
from God.
These hidden seasons don't meanthat you've done anything wrong.
Hear that.
(10:14):
Hear that really good.
Shame wants to come in and say,if you're in a hidden season,
you've done something wrong.
If you're in a hidden season,you've made God mad.
If you're in a hidden season,there's something wrong with you
that God's got to fix.
And no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Listen, hidden seasons are arethese seasons that that God is
(10:34):
forming.
And yeah, he may be knocking offsome of the rough edges, but
he's also teaching you how tohear his voice, how to how to
not be controlled and moved bythe accolades of man, but how to
listen to his voice, how to beclear on what he's saying for
you to do in that in thatseason, how to be clear on who
you are in him, not based onwhat other people say, and not
(10:58):
based on the accolades of manand accolades of the art
community.
He's teaching you in thesetimes.
And so listen, if you're in thatseason right now, like we have
always been, you've got tolisten, trust me and trust God.
These seasons are not wasted.
God is shaping your character,he's shaping your dependence on
(11:18):
him, and he's also shaping yourobedience.
He's he's teaching you in thesetimes how to step out in seasons
where it doesn't make sense toyour natural mind.
And all of that is a big part ofyou being formed.
So don't allow the enemy to saythat if you're in a hidden
season, you're stuck, you'rebroken, you're finished, uh, you
(11:40):
know, somehow, somehowsomething's wrong.
No, you're in a season ofpreparation, you're in a season
of formation.
And listen, there are there arethings I've just learned in my
life, there are things that Godcan do.
There's space in seasons ofwaiting where you can experience
God in such a beautiful way thatwhen things are rolling and fast
(12:00):
and the momentum's going and thefavors there, and you're
walking, some sometimes thoseseasons get so busy and we lose
the spaciousness of what can bebeautiful in a hidden season.
So don't ever feel like thoseare a waste.
Those are absolutely on purpose,and they're a big part of
learning to trust God's plan foryour creative journey in your
life.
(12:21):
All right.
Now, number three is thisfaithfulness always comes before
fruitfulness.
You know, what does the Biblesay?
Even in Genesis, be fruitful andwhat?
Then multiply.
Be fruitful and multiply.
We listen, be honest.
We all want the multiplicationbefore we get the fruitfulness,
right?
(12:41):
We all want the fruit.
We we all want the result, butbut we we want the recognition
and the sales and the momentumand the accolades and the awards
and all that kind of stuff.
But but God, again, this is partof how he's forming us in this
creative journey and how we'relearning to trust him.
He wants us to be faithful.
He's asking us for faithfulness.
He's in other words, he's usingthese hidden seasons and these
(13:04):
seasons that don't always makesense.
He's using these to teach youand to draw you into
faithfulness and to get yourheart to be connected to
faithfulness and trust him forthe fruitfulness.
I love it in Luke 16, 10 whereit says this it says, For for
whoever is faithful in littlewill be faithful in much.
(13:26):
You know, you can look in uh inMatthew 25, the parable of the
talents.
Jesus said, Uh, well done, goodand faithful servant.
You've been faithful withlittle.
Now I'm gonna what?
I'm gonna make you ruler overmuch.
But you gotta realize you'renever gonna get the much, you're
never gonna get themultiplication unless you learn
to trust God in these hiddenseasons in faithfulness.
(13:46):
And listen, I know, I know, Iknow, I know, I know you want it
to go faster, I want it to gofaster, I know you want to make
a bigger impact, I want to makea bigger impact, but you gotta
realize the speed and the paceof the journey and the impact on
your journey.
We realize as believers, wecan't engineer that ourselves.
That is God.
It's the Bible says it's Godthat that brings promotion.
(14:08):
Promotion doesn't come from thenorth, south, east, or west, but
it's from the Lord.
The Lord is the one whoestablishes, the Lord is the one
that brings fruitfulness throughour lives as we are faithful.
And so, what's our job in that?
Our job is to keep showing up,to keep making in the studio, to
be faithful to the things thatthat God's showing us, to make
adjustments where we're needed,to keep trusting.
(14:30):
And listen, I had to learn along time ago, and maybe this is
gonna be a revelation for youtoday.
God's plan for my life was notabout launching me out into you
know all this impact.
God's plan for my life was toform me into the image of Christ
and anchor me into him first.
And listen, if we can do that,if we can allow our heart to be
(14:52):
healed and allow our mind to berenewed to the truth and allow
our very identity to be anchoredin him first, listen, there's no
there's no limits to what Godwill do with you, but don't ever
get the cart before the horse.
If you start getting the cartbefore the horse thinking, oh
God, I want to make an impact.
I want to do all these thingsfor you, he says, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah.
(15:13):
We'll get to all that.
And I got plans and purposes foryou with that, but it starts in
the place of anchoring.
It starts in the place offaithfulness.
And I don't, I don't know aboutyou, but maybe that's part of
why you're feeling frustrationright now.
I know that's been a big part ofmy journey, is when I'm feeling
this resistance and thisfrustration and learning to
trust God in my creativejourney.
(15:34):
Most of the time it's becausethings are not happening fast
enough or in the way that Ithink they ought to happen.
And it's a perfect time to rollit back, to take a deep breath,
and to get into the just ahealthy rhythm of life of
anchoring myself in the Lord.
Now, listen, I want to reallydrive that home to you because
(15:56):
learning to anchor yourself inthe Lord is not just a one-time
decision.
Learn to trust God in yourcreative journey is not just a
one-time decision.
It is a daily rhythm.
And I developed something yearsago that we use in our Creative
to Thrive Artist Mentoringprogram called the Core Four
Focus Framework.
And it is this simple rhythm.
I want to give it to you rightnow.
That's that's a simple rhythmthat you can do every day.
(16:20):
That I think is one of the bestrhythms that you can do to
anchor yourself in the Lord andto keep yourself focused as
you're learning to trust God'splan for your life.
All right.
So I walk that through with youtoday.
The first part of this isconnect.
Every day we start our day withconnecting with the Lord.
Just you and Him, right?
No pressure the day.
(16:40):
No, I got to get into it.
No, no performing.
We're just focused on hispresence.
And while you're connecting withhim, part of that is worship,
part of that is reading hisword.
But a big part of that I foundin my own journey is reminding
myself of what God has alreadysaid about me, to me, in his
word, uh, prophetic promisesthat he's given me, um, you
(17:03):
know, vision that he's put on myheart, things that I know like
are for me in this season.
I have to remind myself of that.
And you know why we remindourselves of that?
Because it's through thepromises of God that we
participate in the abundant lifethat God's called us to.
Second Peter 1, 3 and 4 saysthis it's through the very great
and precious promises of Godthat we participate in the
(17:26):
divine nature.
All right, it's through thosepromises.
And so part of connecting withGod every day and learning to
live in a place of trust in yourcreative journey is reminding
yourself who you are in Christ,what God's called you to, what
he's promised you, how he'sdesigned you, the things that
he's called you to.
Listen, and if you got to dothat with a vision board, you
(17:48):
want to do that with affirmationcards, you want to write it in
your journal, you know, whateveryou want to do, reminding
yourself of who you are inChrist and connecting with the
Father every day.
That is a huge, primary,foundational part of anchoring
yourself in Christ.
All right.
Secondly, then, out of thatplace of connection, the thing
(18:10):
that you want to do, and I thatI'd recommend that you do in
developing this daily rhythm oflearning to trust him, is to
clarify.
Clarify what's important today.
In other words, God, I'vereminded myself of who you are.
I've taken time with you.
Now, Lord, in alignment with whoI am and the season I've been
and what you've called me to do,what is it for today?
(18:30):
What's the one thing that's onmy list today that you want to,
that I want to make sure I getdone?
What's the what's the mainpriority?
One clear focus.
Now you may say, well, I got 10things I need to do.
Listen, ask the Lord for the onething.
If you get his one thing done, Ipromise you all the other stuff
will come a whole lot faster.
All right.
Number three, then, is create.
(18:51):
For an artist, we have to showup in the studio every day,
right?
Artists create.
And I don't care if it's 10minutes or 10 hours.
Don't wait to be inspired,right?
Realize that inspiration comesas we show up faithful in the
studio, right?
The flow of the Holy Spiritshows up as you show up.
And so create from a place ofobedience, not out of pressure,
(19:15):
but out of a place that justsays, you know what?
I'm an artist, and artistscreate, and I'm gonna be
faithful to the thing that Godhas called me to do.
That's part of creating thisdaily rhythm of trusting God in
the journey.
That even though I can't see it,even though I can't feel it,
even though I don't see all theaccolades and all the impact
right now, I'm gonna show upfaithful.
(19:35):
I'm gonna do the thing thatGod's called me to do.
And then the last thing iscultivate.
And I think, again, no matterwhether you're in a hidden
season, a transitional season, aseason of impact and influence,
whatever, God calls us tocultivate relationships with
people that are that are in ourlife.
That may be other audience, uhother artists, that may be the
(19:57):
audience that God's given you onsocial media or on your website.
There may be fellow artists orcollectors, yeah, whoever that
is, you need to be creating andevery day and connecting with
them in a way that's meaningful,sharing your work, sharing your
journey, sharing things thatGod's showing you along the way.
That that allows you, I don'tknow, for me, it allows me to be
(20:17):
a river, not a pond, right?
Instead of just receiving,receiving, receiving and never
giving it out, cultivatingrelationships allows me to
release the things that God'sshowing me on a regular basis,
both in my creative journey andin my spiritual life.
And that is just really, reallyimportant.
Listen, my friend, I hope thisencourages you today that as
(20:38):
you'll begin to do these thingsof learning to cultivate this
daily habits in your creativejourney, you can absolutely
trust God in your creativejourney.
You can trust his plan even whenyou can't see it.
So listen, wherever you areright now, I want to invite you,
just would you close your eyesfor a second and just let me
pray this prayer over you?
(20:59):
Father, I thank you right nowthat even in seasons where we
can't see, Lord, you are workingall things together for our
good.
And God, God, I pray right nowfor my friend that's this
listening and watching, Lord, Ipray for great grace to rise up
within them, great confidence,not in themselves, not in what
they can do, but God in yourpurposes and plans for them.
(21:20):
Holy Spirit, remind us of who weare in you.
Form us into the image ofChrist.
Bring faith in our heart that wewould trust the pace of our
journey and the goodness of ourFather to work all things
together and to put us in theplace that he has for us, that
we could accomplish every goodthing that he's already planned
for us before we were everformed.
(21:42):
We thank you for that, Lord, inJesus' name.
Amen.
Listen, friend, thank you forbeing with me.
I hope you'll make sure thatyou're subscribed so that you
never miss any of the contentthat I'm bringing to you every
week.
Also, if if you want to grow inyour creative journey as an
artist, somebody that lovesJesus, but you want to learn how
to create these habits, you wantto learn how to renew your mind,
(22:04):
you want to allow the HolySpirit to heal your heart from
some of the things that have youknow have held you back for a
lot of years and learn how toreally start thriving as the
artist that God's called you tobe.
I want to encourage you, uh,check out all the resources that
are here in uh the show notes,our foundations course, which
God's using to transform thelives of artists all over the
world.
(22:24):
It's a nine-week course withdaily scripture, art prompts,
community, incredible teachingthat goes really, really deep in
helping you to grow ineverything that God's called you
to do.
Uh, whether it's our core fourplanner, uh, you know, you may
want to grab one of those andstart actually implementing on a
daily basis uh this core fourframework that I'm teaching, uh,
or even being a part of ourweekly newsletter where I'm
(22:46):
sending out great content rightinto your email box to help you
grow as an artist.
We've got lots and lots ofdifferent ways for you to grow
in your calling as an artist inGod's kingdom.
And it'd be my great honor to beable to be a part of your
journey.
I love you, my friend.
Thanks for being here.
Be sure to leave me a commentand let me know that this was
meaningful to you.
Let me know if you got anyquestions.
I'm always happy to answer them.
(23:07):
I read everyone personally, anduh be my honor to answer that
for you.
And remember, until next time,you were created to thrive.
Bye.
Hey, my friend, before you go,make sure that you're signed up
for the Thriving ChristianArtist Weekly.
It's my free newsletter full ofspiritual encouragement,
creative inspiration, andpractical tips to help you
(23:27):
thrive in everything that God'scalled you to do as an artist in
his kingdom.
Every issue is absolutely free,and it includes the latest
podcast episode, featured artistspotlights, a worship song of
the week, and again, tons oftips and encouragement and
inspiration for you to keep youinspired and encouraged in
everything that God's got foryou as an artist in the kingdom.
You can click the link righthere in the show notes to join
(23:49):
us, and it's a great way to stayconnected.
All right, love you.
Bye.
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