Sometimes life is hard, and we don’t know what will come next. Paul was facing a death penalty, but he trusted that God was in control. It didn’t stop him from thinking about what he would choose, but he decided that God’s plans was the best. He hoped God would give him more time here on earth to tell others the Gospel message.
19 For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.
20 For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. 21 For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. 22 But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. 23 I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. 24 But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.
25 Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith. 26 And when I come to you again, you will have even more reason to take pride in Christ Jesus because of what he is doing through me.
(Philipians 1:19-26, NLT)
Doing something creative is my favorite! And I love visuals—not only do they help me learn, but they take me places in my mind. I also use them to meditate on scripture or doodle a picture of what I hear from God through scripture.
When I am studying deeply, I often draw. You’ll see pictures on all the notes I took in classes at school, sermons notes, interviews, and even Zoom meetings. It’s how my brain works. When I am writing a Bible study or fiction based on a Bible story, my research includes pictures: those that I draw and historical scenes. It gives me context.
At other times, I need to keep my eyes and hands engaged in order to relax, I color. I use gel pens and colored pencils, sometimes I doodle whatever’s on my mind, and sometimes I find something in a coloring book. My favorite go-to source for this supply is Hobby Lobby as they carry an ever-renewing source of inspirational and scriptural books from a variety of artists and publishers.
Kathleen S Evenhouse 