Job 8:7, “Though your beginning was insignificant, yet your end will increase greatly.”
Can I be honest?
I have a love/hate relationship with things I start. There’s the thrill of beginning something new and exciting. Then there’s the dread of not knowing where or even how to begin! That’s how it is every single time I open my iPad to type something. It doesn’t matter if it’s a chapter in my book, a game review, or a blog post. I either stare at a blank screen for several minutes, or I’m haphazardly throwing in every thought in my head, hoping something sticks.
So when starting FlyingFaith, I realized I needed a good first time blog. It needed to be something truly worthy of a kick-off. I told myself it should say something about the website in general. You know. Give firsT-time visitors a taste for what to expect. As usual though, I started driving myself crazy deciding a topic. Should the first blog be about my upcoming book? Should it be about the entertainment industry? Should it be about a movie? A video game? My ideas crowded like too many cooks in a kitchen, and the kitchen is my brain!
I couldn’t settle on anything. I wrote a few draft posts but somehow, none of them really clicked with me. It wasn’t until after my family critiqued my work did God hit me with a painful wake up call to save me from the trap I was falling into. You see, when I wrote those first posts, I wanted to sound confident. Nobody would listen to someone insecure, right? I needed to be bold and emphatic - like I knew what I was saying and why I was saying it . . . or so I told myself.
What resulted, was a series of blogs that were overly long, cluttered, and arrogant. It wasn’t like that was how I intended them, but to my family, they sounded way too confident as they put it. It wasn’t at all the kind of reaction I hoped for, but you know what? It was the best thing God could have let happen to me before initiating FlyingFaith’s launch. He used it to remind me that as His writer I should begin based on the foundation of His Word - not on the foundation of what’s popular or considered fun.
Artists, developers, musicians, writers, filmographers: we all want to take pride in our work don’t we? The importance of a good first impression is so drilled in our heads, it makes us hesitate or drive ourselves crazy. How ironic is it then that thoughts of the all important beginning is the very mindset that trips us up as Christian creatives, and this is right at the starting gate! Perfect first impressions lead us to thinking about looking good. But who are we trying to look good for? The world? Ourselves? If we seek to represent Jesus’s values through the talents He’s given us, then the first question isn’t where to play the first note or where to film the first location. It’s what will this project say about Him and His ways? How will this story reflect Him in the best light? The difference between looking professional for God and looking professional for self is as simple as swapping one little word.
So if you find yourself stuck at the beginning like I so often am, take a second. Breathe. Study and pray. It’s the perfect moment to seek God and ask Him how He wants you to portray Him in your particular piece. Let Him fuel your motivations His way. For where we start doesn’t begin on the canvas or the page. It begins at the heart. As soon as Christ is the head of your project, He’ll inspire you in the way He wants you to be inspired.
Hebrews 3:4, “For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.”
Have or are you having difficulty starting a new project? Did you enjoy this first blog? Feel free to like, share, and comment below!