I believe God has put creativity in all of us. He is certainly creative and believes in variety. Think of all the varieties of birds, flowers, trees, grass, etc., He has created. People come in a never-ending variety of sizes, shapes and colors, with different personalities.
All of our fingerprints are different. There is not another human being in the world with our fingerprints. The various nations in our world and all the variety of customs and manner of dress are awesome.
Foods and their preparation vary greatly from nation to nation. Italian food is quite different from Chinese or Mexican food. In America, we find the food in the South to be different from that in the North.
God likes variety!
Diamonds in the Rough!
He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time. …
Ecclesiastes 3:11
Dave and I were at the Smithsonian Institution a few years ago, and one of my favorite buildings was the one with all the birds of the world in it. Most of the specimens were stuffed, but I walked around and marveled at all the colors, the beauty, the magnificent display of creativity and diversity shown in just this one part of the animal kingdom.
We also visited the gem and stone area, and once again, the variety of gems is awe-inspiring: diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, amethysts, pearls, etc.
The beauty of the inside of some rocks is amazing. They are crusty and rough-looking on the outside, and yet, on the inside they have unique beauty not found anywhere else. They remind me of people.
We are like that — rough around the edges, crusty and hard on the outside — not much to be desired. However, on the inside, there is a heart that longs after God and greatly desires to be in His will and to please Him.
We are diamonds in the rough!
Diversity and Imagination
And out of the ground the Lord God formed every [wild] beast and living creature of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them; and whatever Adam called every living creature, that was its name.
And Adam gave names to all the livestock and to the birds of the air and to every [wild] beast of the field. …
Genesis 2:19,20
I cannot imagine what kind of a job it must have been for Adam to name all the birds and animals. He certainly had to be creative to do it.
I could go on and on about how diverse and imaginative God was in Creation, but I am sure if you think about it a little, you will agree that our God is an awesome God.
Simply take a walk and look around you. If it will help you, put the book down and do it now. Go rent some nature videos and watch a few. Find out what is in the ocean, or how bees and flowers work together. Then realize that the same Holy Spirit present at Creation is living inside of you if you have truly accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. (Acts 2:38.)
There is a lot of creativity inside each of us that we need to tap into without fear.
I think we often get into ruts. We do the same thing all the time even though we are bored with it because we are afraid to step out and do something different. We would rather be safe and bored than excited and living on the edge. There is a certain amount of comfort in sameness. We may not like it, but we are familiar with it.
Some people stay in jobs or professions all their lives because what they are doing is safe. They may hate their job, and feel completely unfulfilled, but the thought of doing anything else is frightening beyond words. Or maybe they do think and dream about a change, but their dreams will never manifest because they are afraid of failure, and they will not do their part to see their dreams come to pass.
I do not advocate jumping out in the middle of every “whim” that comes along, but there is a definite time to step out of the ordinary, out of the comfort zone, and into new things.
God has created you and me to need and crave diversity and variety. We are created to require freshness and newness in our lives. There is nothing wrong with us if we feel sometimes that we just need a change. On the other hand, if we can never be satisfied for very long no matter what we are doing, then we have the reverse problem.
The Word of God instructs us to be content and satisfied. (Heb. 13:5 KJV; 1 Tim. 6:6 KJV.) Once again we find that balance is the key.
Be Well Balanced
Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour.
1 Peter 5:8
People can definitely get out of balance by doing too much of one thing or another, and when that happens, a door is opened for the devil, as we see in this verse.
Even unbalanced eating habits can open a door for poor health. The Word of God instructs us to do all things in moderation. (1 Cor. 9:25.) We have heard all of our lives beginning in childhood that we need a balanced diet: plenty of good protein, a variety of fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts and grains, and lots of water.
Eventually there will be a price to pay when we don’t obey natural laws. Today, we can take vitamins and other food supplements to help compensate for some of the missing nutrients in our diet, but balance is vital.
Our youngest son dislikes all vegetables. He will eat canned green beans if we make him, but that is about all. I tell him all the time, “Daniel, you need to eat vegetables. You’re missing a whole food group that has things in it you need. God wouldn’t have put them here if we didn’t need them.” So far, he has not been moved to change, so I give him vitamins and believe that his eating habits will improve as he gets older.
It is amazing how many people do not like and will not drink water, which is very important for good, lasting health. Often such likes and dislikes are evidence of a certain “mindset.” It is something they get into their heads, and until they change their minds, the situation will not improve.
One of my good friends grew up in a family situation in which the dinner table was where the family met to argue. Thus, she grew to hate family mealtimes. She ate a lot of junk food in her late teens and young adult years. She did so partially because she did not want to plan for proper meals.
She did not enjoy thinking about meal preparation, so when she did get hungry, she grabbed whatever was quick. As she grew older, she began to realize that she probably needed to do something to change her eating habits, but she still felt that she just could not be bothered with planning ahead where food was concerned.
Then she had a time of sickness in her life, one severe enough to frighten her, and she decided she had to do something about her diet. It was truly amazing how quickly she changed once she had made a quality decision.
This same principle works in anything. People who think they cannot exercise find they can if they decide to do it and stick with their decision. People who have had a lifelong problem with certain issues often find, through the teaching of God’s Word, that much of their problem is tied to wrong thinking.
We can live balanced lives. Without balance, things get lopsided. There is too much of one thing and not enough of another. Physical sickness, relationship problems and certainly loss of joy can all be the result of unbalanced living.
Taking a good thing out of balance makes it a bad thing. A friend heard that Vitamin E was good and took it by the handful. It was excessively thinning her blood, and she got sick.
The flesh is totally into extremes, and left unrestrained, it will lead to major trouble. The flesh cannot be allowed to have or do everything it wants.
Part of Balance Is Variety and Diversity
When I find a restaurant I like, one that has a certain dish I really enjoy, I am tempted to eat there until I burn out on the place and never want to go there again. If I can discipline myself to some variety, however, then I can enjoy the restaurant indefinitely.
Variety keeps the things we enjoy the most in life fresh enough for us to enjoy them permanently. Sameness ushers in staleness, and things we once thoroug
hly enjoyed are stolen due to a lack of variety.
I find that if I spend too much time with people I really enjoy and delight in, and don’t spend enough time with other people, eventually a staleness comes into our relationship.
Dave and I really love each other and we have a great relationship. We are comfortable together, and it is a good thing, because we spend a lot of time together. We work together as well as live together, so we spend more time together than the average married couple. As much as we enjoy each other, sometimes we need to get away from each other. He needs to get out and play golf with his friends, and I need to go shopping and have lunch with one of our daughters or a friend.
We need diversity! It keeps the ordinary fresh.
This may sound like a unique example, but one of the first things God began to deal with me about years ago concerning this subject of boredom and sameness was my pantyhose. You see, I had worn “suntan” pantyhose all my life. Never did I wear any other kind — always the exact same brand and color.
I would see other ladies with black, navy blue, creme-colored or even light pink hose, and I liked them, but I kept buying “suntan.” God showed me from this simple example that I was sticking with what I thought was safe, even though in my heart I really wanted to venture out and wear something different once in a while.
“Suntan” probably did match most of my clothes better than anything else, and I probably would continue to wear it most of the time, but just a little occasional variety would add some spice to my life and keep me from being bored with my manner of dress.
I am convinced that even if we don’t like one thing as well as another, it is still good to incorporate them all, just for the sake of variety. It is a known medical fact that many people who have food allergies are allergic to the things they eat the most. Part of their cure is to rotate their diet.
A friend of mine is dealing with this problem right now. She has been advised not to eat the same thing any more often than once every four days. To rid her body of the allergens, she was instructed to go completely off of what she was allergic to for twenty-one days. After three weeks, she could try adding it back into her diet. But she was told not to eat it more than occasionally or, in some instances, once every four days, depending on how allergic she was to that particular food.
It is very interesting to me to see that God has created even our bodies to demand variety. If we don’t give them the variety they need and crave, then our bodies rebel. In essence they say, “I can’t handle this. You’re giving me too much of this thing, therefore, I’m going to get sick or have some kind of negative reaction every time you feed it to me.”
Sickness, pain or other adverse physical reactions are the body’s way of saying, “Something’s not right.” Many times, the thing that is wrong is simply that we are out of balance.
Imbalance and Boredom Cause Problems
Perhaps you are not resting enough or laughing enough, or maybe you are working too hard. Too much stress, frequent emotional upset and a lack of variety in life can all have adverse effects on your health.
God dealt with me about my pantyhose and my eating habits as well as many other things, but the principle is to be applied everywhere. Once you learn the principle of balance, moderation, variety and diversity, you can apply it to relationships, spending, eating, work habits, dress standards, entertainment and many other things.
When we come home from our ministry trips, I love to just be at home — in my house. I prefer to eat at home when possible, and I like to watch good, clean family movies on the VCR or television when available. I like to sit around, or walk around with a cup of tea or coffee and look out the windows. I just like to be there.
But, I have noticed that after about three days maximum I start getting bored with what I was loving three days before. There is nothing wrong with me. It is just my God-given nature letting me know that it is time for something different.
I believe God builds these warning signs into us, and if we will pay attention to them, it will keep us out of serious trouble. Our emotional makeup needs change. Denying ourselves necessary variety because of fear or insecurity — or for any other reason — is dangerous. If we do so, we are headed for a great loss of joy.
The fine art of balance is a delicate thing, and each of us must listen to the Holy Spirit and to our own heart. We each have individual needs, and I find it fascinating how one person really needs something that another doesn’t need at all.
I have had the same hairstyle for years and years and probably will never change it. But I don’t like to wear the same pajamas more than two nights, so I have several pair, and I switch them around so I don’t get bored with my nightwear.
My daughter, Laura, on the other hand, changes her hairstyle about twice a year. She tries all kinds of new things — many of which she doesn’t like — but she likes change in her hair. Yet, it does not matter at all to her what she sleeps in.
For this reason, we cannot look to other people’s lifestyles and choices to tell us what to do. One individual may be totally satisfied eating the same thing for breakfast every day of his life, while another one may want hot cereal one morning and eggs the next, then cold cereal with bananas; one day fruit, then bagels with cream cheese.
Remember that variety means just that, and you are free to have variety within your variety. In other words, you are free to be you; you don’t have to follow someone else’s plan.
Beware of Boredom and Laziness!
Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines. …
Song of Solomon 2:15 KJV
I believe that many times people are out of balance, and they don’t know it. They are unhappy; they have lost their joy, but they would never attribute it to anything as simple as a need for diversity and creativity in their lives.
We blame our unhappiness on many things, and much of the time that’s all it is — blame. When we are unhappy, often we want to lash out at someone or something. The truth alone sets us free. (John 8:32.) Many times, we simply need to go back to some of the things God has spoken to us, to the leading of the Holy Spirit that we ignored because we thought it was such a minor thing that it could not possibly make any difference. Remember that the Bible states that it is the little foxes that spoil the vines.
Frequently we search for huge monsters in our lives when the answer is simple and right in front of our faces if we would open our eyes and look around us.
We need to repent for a lack of balance in our lives. I do not necessarily mean that we need to get down and wallow in sackcloth and ashes, but I do mean that we need to turn around and go in another direction. We need to be sorry for our wrong way of living and make a decision to change.
Sometimes we are tempted to do what is easy rather than what our heart really wants to do.
For instance, you might get a desire to have some friends over, fix dinner and fellowship, or play games. That is the desire that rises up in your heart, but then your flesh begins to think of everything you will have to do to get ready for that type of evening.
You will need to call the people, go to the store, cook, straighten the house, find the game, serve your guests and then clean up the mess after they are gone. The thought comes, “Oh, forget it, I think I’ll just sit down and watch television.” Then you are bored and perhaps lonely one more night and continue in the same pattern — joylessly — not knowing what is wrong with you and thinking, “My life is so boring. It’s going no place. I can’t stand to live like this much longer.”
This is where many people really get into relationship problems because, at this point, they blame their dissatisfaction on the person with whom they are in relationship, expecting the other person to provide their joy.
People can give us a certain amount of happiness, but they cannot provide our joy.
Joy is a product of the Spirit and the Spirit-led life. If the Spirit is leading you into some diversity, and you remain in sameness out of laziness or
for any other carnal reason, it will affect your joy level.
“Television Ate My Friend”
I have nothing against watching television if what is being watched is not ungodly and if it is not done excessively. But I do believe that television is a very large problem for a lot of people.
It is easy to just sit in front of the TV and allow it to entertain you. You don’t have to do anything but sit there. However, maybe what you need is not to sit there. Perhaps you are unhappy because you need to get up and exercise some of your creative gifts.
If the abilities God planted in us are not used, they begin to become more and more dormant, and we feel that something is missing, but we may be deceived as to what that “something” is.
I would like to share a story with you that I heard titled “Television Ate My Friend.” A little girl had a playmate, and they both enjoyed swinging. They had a contest going between them to see who could swing the highest. They really spent a lot of time together, almost all day, every day.
Well, one of the girl’s families bought a television when they first came out, and her mother called her in saying, “Come and see what we bought!” Well, the other little girl never saw her friend again after that. Every time she would go to call her to come play, her friend would be busy.
She would be watching “Howdy Doody,” “Captain Kangaroo,” “Mickey Mouse Club” or something else. She was always just beginning a new program or finishing one she had started, and for this reason, she could not play. The little girl really missed her friend; they had enjoyed each other so much and had had so much fun playing together. The little girl who was left out did not like television, because she said it “ate” her friend.