Include God In Your C.R.E.A.T.I.O.N

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)

We are on a journey to materializing our wholesome and healthy “it”.  “It” can be the network that you don’t have, that you need to secure that next job or organizational role.  “It” can be the collection of advocates who need to vocalize support for you in rooms that you don’t inhabit. “It” can be the actual opportunity to actualize your potential or show what you can do.  “It” can be a boundary that you need to establish to keep yourself safe.  Whatever “it” is, if non-existent, you can create “it” using the C.R.E.A.T.I.O.N. framework.

Recall the elements of C.R.E.A.T.I.O.N. framework as shown below.

As we continue this journey of creating the wholesome “it” that we desire for ourselves, we have done the following:

1. We have defined the CONTEXT of our situation, recognizing that things are neither ALL good nor bad, but a mixture of states. We have labelled out “it” and hopefully shared it with others. We have reflected on the future benefits we foresee receiving and the negative present circumstances we are experiencing (as a result of not having “it”).  Our “it” may be related to our relationships, careers, personal comfort, personal characteristics, social connectedness, financial security etc. “It” can be any wholesome longing that we have that is currently not in our grasp.
2. We engaged our RATIONAL mind to reflect on the feelings and thoughts we have about our current circumstance and perception of the future. Feelings are expressed using the sentence stem “I feel…” and involve some aspect of the emotional states of sadness, happiness, surprise, anger, disgust, fear and shame/guilt.  Thoughts are expressed using the sentence stems “I am…”, “You are…”, “He/she/it is…”, “We are…” and “They are…”.  These capture our perception of how our characteristics and those of others (or the environment) intersect with our current circumstance and the feasibility of achieving our “it”.
3. We extracted the thoughts we identified and conducted an EXERCISE in judgment to create separation between thoughts we can do something about and those that we can’t. Additionally, for those thoughts associated with things within our control, we identified the ACTIONS that we need to take address the thought.  If my “it” is to create a broader professional network, then one thought I may have is “I am not interesting.  No one will want to connect with me.”  An action to address this thought might be to challenge this thought with feedback from a trusted colleague, friend or partner.
4. We consulted with trusted others to determine the proper TIMING and content of our action plan. We recognized that the enemies of proper timing are impulse and inertia.  We ensured that access to experienced counsel and sage advice helped us to formulate the correct sequence and content of events.  We exercised appreciation of the finiteness of the resource of time and we committed to not waste it.

This brings us to the next step in our C.R.E.A.T.I.O.N journey:

Genesis 1:20-23 ²⁰ And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” ²¹ So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” ²³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

Prayer is simply the act of communicating with God.  We all have different ways of doing this.  For some formal prayer and the use of standardized formats are preferred (think the Lord’s prayer).  For others, prayer is a much more informal activity that revolves around very simple expressions (“Lord help me!”).  Yet for others, prayer is a mix of activities that involves personal reflection, Bible reading, journaling, meditation and other introspective approaches.  Prayer is not defined by a specific type of propriety.  At its core, however, it is a recognition of the limit of all that is natural and an invocation of God’s supernatural ability to change the course of events.  It is an expression of trust in an Almighty God - who created all things, both the visible (the birds that we see) and the invisible (the fish that we don't normally see).

This can be a struggle for many, particularly as we are socialized in western society to be individualistic and independent.  For many the guiding principle is the non-Biblical idiom that states “God helps those who help themselves.”  It implies the need for an initial “investment” and that the outcome is dependent on the size (of investment).  This could not be further from the truth.  The most minimal amount of trust will produce the most significant of supernatural outcomes.  God will manifest himself in spite of ourselves.

Including God, through reflective prayer, in the process and content of our desired “it” will result in an outcome that is beyond what we can imagine.  Our role is to be open to his alterations and optimizations.

Discussion Questions:

1. How do you pray?

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2. How do you include God in your plans?

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