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The Artist’s Blessing

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My fellow artists, makers, thinkers, crafters, creatives,

Have you ever wondered where your ideas come from? Whether they’re yours or entirely and wholly other? Ever wondered how these ideas find you, whether you generated them or if they’re floating around waiting to be claimed, or if someone sent them to you?

I’ve wondered. Most artists have. This one’s for the wonderers – and wanderers.

I don’t know why, but it feels selfish to ask God to make me better at what I do. To sharpen my craft, to give me success, to make me better at this thing called creating. But did you know you can ask the Holy Spirit for this very thing, exactly? I didn’t know this.

Or maybe I did. Or maybe I’m learning it. Again.

I was reading in Exodus, all about the instructions for building the tabernacle. And that’s where I found this guy called Bezalel, and his buddy Oholiab. (Now is when I take a moment to be thankful for the great evolution of names over time.)

They show up right there in chapter 35, in black and white:

 

The Lord has filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts. He is a master craftsman, an expert in working with gold, silver, and bronze. He is skilled in engraving and mounting gemstones and in carving wood. He is a master at every craft. And the Lord has given both him and Oholiab the ability to teach their skills to others. The Lord has given them special skills as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet thread on fine linen cloth, and weavers. They excel as craftsmen and as designers.

Exodus 35:31-35

 

Look at all of the things Bezalel did with his hands. He was a maker. He was an artist. And he became a creative because he was filled with the Holy Spirit, because this is what God made him to do.

If this is so, and we can trust that it is (because there it is), then this blessing is one that we can ask for, too – we, the makers, artists, craftsmen. We can ask for the blessing of Bezalel.

It’s the Artist’s Blessing.

Give me wisdom and ability.

Give me expertise in my craft.

And give me the ability and the opportunity to teach my skills to others.

He gave it to Bezalel, through the power of his Holy Spirit. And we also know that this Giver of Good Gifts longs to give us what we ask of him, especially when what we ask is more of him. That’s all the permission I need. So I’m asking.

Since I don’t always know where my ideas come from, since it’s possible that the ideas in my head are actually divine gifts from the One who shapes the daisies and names the stars, I’m asking.

It’s the Artist’s Blessing.

Tricia Lott Williford

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