The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. Genesis 2:18-20

I think everyone has a teacher throughout their schooling at some point with whom they just don’t click. For me, that teacher came quite early on, in the form of Mrs. Gerke, my grade 3 teacher. I don’t have a single positive memory of my year inside her classroom but some of the negatives still stick out to me. One particular comment that I remember receiving was “you don’t have a single creative bone in your entire body, do you?” I thought of her the day I had my first piece of writing published, and again on the day I sold my first painting. I regularly think of her as I teach creative writing and try to bring out my student’s creative natures. Sadly, this is a sentiment I hear echoed constantly among students and adults alike. There seems to be some sort of perception that some of us are creative and the rest of us are not and there is nothing we can do about it. Not true, my friends!

Reading this scripture, I am reminded that our creativity is not just a gift or rare or special talent, it is part of our nature, that’s HUMAN nature. That means everyone, which means you. Even Mrs. Gerke. How do we know we are all creative in nature? Because we are made in the image of God and none can deny His creativity.

In fact, as Pastor Lucas preached so compellingly on Sunday, the very first time we hear Adam use his voice, the first words spoken by humanity, it is to step into the creative nature of God. Do you think God didn’t have ideas about what the animals should be called? Of course, but he called upon Adam to name them. Adam’s creative nature was activated in that moment as he took decisive action. The whole purpose behind Adam naming the animals was for him to figure out what it was he needed. He was looking for a companion, but it was only as he looked at the situation before him and named it, he figured out that what he needed wasn’t there. He needed a creative solution, one that hadn’t been seen before; he needed Eve!

So I’m wondering, what animals do we need to name this week? What parts of your life do you need to evaluate to figure out whether or not it is truly what you need? Where can God bring a creative solution to your problem?

Your creative nature isn’t just the ability to draw a picture or write a song, although if you can do those things to glorify God and bless others, then great, do them! Your creative nature is the ability to think in ways that haven’t been thought of before, to reject the obvious and see beyond the natural. Your creative nature is to speak new life and fresh ideas into being.

By Jen Grubb