Uncharted Waters

I am preparing to start another semester at the University of Texas at Dallas where I study Fine Arts. I have just turned a senior. I am an older adult in her second life and college has been and will remain of part of this new life for awhile. The Lord has put a dream in my heart and I have been pursuing it. There are many obstacles, but with faith and perseverance I continue to walk an uncharted course to that end; Art Ministry. For the visual artist in the church there exists no degree, no life plan and few examples to follow. As I advance day by day, year by year I meet more souls with the common thread of desire to reclaim the visual arts for the Lord within the church and outside the church. That encourages me. Art speaks and according to my professors at UTD it is a language in and of itself. I am determined to master the language of art and use it for the glory of God in the context of the art world as we know it. Oh how the light of the gospel and the Word of God need to shine in that world. I am equally called to renew the use of the visual arts in the church, an equally uncharted and difficult task. Each circumstance opens me and my call up to suspicion and misunderstanding. It calls for excellence and focus and I often think the impossible is asked of me.

I have the talent, the gifts, circumstance to explore this call, but without vision and purpose it is for naught. It is in the exploration of and the preparation for that the Lord has been refining the vision. It is still in process.

At the end of Paul's letter to the church at Colosse Paul writes instruction to individuals and the church. To Archippus he writes, "See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord." (Colossians 4:17 NIV) I wonder who Archippus is and why Paul marked him out for encouragement. I believe we all need encouragement and support.

That is what I have been missing, support for my call, a community for encouragement. I have enjoyed personal support and encouragement, but feel isolated in my call. If I continue this pursuit I know I will thrive, not just survive in my Christian life. To stick with my call in adversity and opposition allows God to be faithful and continue to open doors of service and opportunities for growth if I will walk through them. These doors are doors of faith that seem darken and even unwelcoming. Through them I encounter my deepest fears of not being understood, not being welcomed and even more not being used by God.

What call have you received in the Lord and are you following it? Do you have the support and encouragement you need? Through your walk with the Lord are you being refined and defined so that your purpose shines as a light before you as you step out in faith? Ask God to send a Paul into your life and commit to use the gifts and talent He has blessed you with. Pray for the strength and courage to walk through open doors into uncharted waters.