When Your Creative Well Runs Dry

Have you ever wandered in the desert? If you're involved in the arts, you know that this can mean a time of being unproductive rather than a journey through sand-covered land. We're called upon to create, to come up with quality products that honor God while helping others to hear His message and those products (whether they are performances on stage, scripts, songs, lyrics, choreography, devotions, videos or some other element used in the arts) must be created new and fresh every week and on deadline.

Creating new and fresh in the desert can be a challenge, however. It's dry, the heat is intense and desert is all you can see for miles around. So how do you survive and find your way out? Trust the One who is the Way.

In the heat and dryness of the desert, ask Him to quench your thirst. If you're feeling like your creative well has run dry, chances are you probably haven't been setting aside enough time for prayer and study in the Word. The water you need doesn't come from a full calendar. His water comes from the spring of eternal life and it renews your soul, spirit and creativity.

In the intensity of the heat and the sun bearing down, ask Him to be your rock, in the shadow of which, you can take refuge. Rely on that rock, and not your own ability or need for recognition, to be the foundation for all of the work you do and watch Him bring streams of water and creativity in the desert.

God very rarely allows us to wander in the desert without purpose. Sometimes we have to go there to be cut off from people, activities and things we otherwise rely on to discover how to depend on Him alone. Sometimes we have to journey there to allow Him to purify our character or motives or to give us new perspective. Whenever you find yourself in the dry place, however, remember there is a way out and back to a refreshed well of creativity.

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." (Jer 17:7-8 NIV)