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It’s easy to miss your awesome if you keep skimming the surface. The temptation to stop digging when the creative-going gets tough is very real. There’s a noisy world intent to bring you back to shallows so they can lay another sale to your account.

I want to encourage you instead to go deep.

Leonard Ravenhill said of the church, “People say the church today is ‘growing and expanding.’ Yes, it’s ten miles wide now—and about a quarter-inch deep.”

Jim Cymbala, one of my favourite teachers on prayer expanded on this in his sermon, “deeper, not wider”:

“The tendency today is to merely splash around in truth for a while . . . and then jump outside the well to the surrounding soil. “Look at this—God is doing a new thing!” people proclaim. In six months or so, of course, the novelty wears off and they jump again to a new patch of grass. They spend their whole lives hopscotching from one side of God’s well to another, never really probing the depth of the living waters inside.”

True of the church, and also very true in the realm of business, perhaps more so.

The very nature of selling things demands that “new things” populate the shelves in order to keep the coffers rolling.

The FOMO vacuum is always sucking otherwise intelligent entrepreneurs back to the surface. But the surface is not where you will discover the kind of genius that impacts people at a heart level. As the Scriptures say, “deep calls to deep” (Psalm 42:7).

Digging Deep

Digging deep is harder work than surface skimming, which is why it is not so popular. It takes discipline to stay the course through discouraging seasons, or hard-rock problems. When all you see in front of you is more dirt to dig and the diamond remains elusive, it’s tempting to return to the surface for a zirconia fix. It looks just like the real thing, and doesn’t take nearly as much pressure and time to form.

Buying a new shiny provides the fix we need to numb ourselves to the reality that work, and sometimes much work, is required if we ever plan to discover our deepest and most impacting contributions to the world.

Cal Newport, in his book, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World pointed out that “the ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy. As a consequence, the few who cultivate this skill, and then make it the core of their working life, will thrive.”

Sounds marvellous right? Who doesn’t want to thrive? The issue is that I want to ‘thrive’ by the end of next week, Cal, not in ten years time!

I’m not suggesting all breakthroughs take ten years, some can happen in a lightening moment of inspiration and fortunate connection, but often they do not.

The cost of discovering your deep it seems is adding up: work and time. Both are necessary components in the push to plumb your potential.

Newport also warned, “Efforts to deepen your focus will struggle if you don’t simultaneously wean your mind from a dependence on distraction.”

Distractions of the obvious kind may be easy to stave off. Will power can stop the scroll (but the undercurrents are strong so doing so swims against the relentless tide). But it is the zirconese distractions, pregnant with the promise of a new future, that may be the most dangerous. Glittering with ease and effortless relief from the grind of growing, your breakthrough is just one click away (plus you’ll get all of these bonuses!).

As digital entrepreneurs and creators, there is always another “great opportunity” knocking on our door. Another course, the latest app, yet one more tantalizing challenge to tip your life into glorious fulfilment. Our garden of life gets hole-ier and hole-ier with every passing year. Instead of fruitfulness, we find our patch of life piled high with disappointed hopes and spent efforts.

Whether prayer, your craft, or your business, the ability to stay the course and dig deep without fear of missing out on what everyone else is doing and the directions they are taking, is one we must cultivate.

3 Key Skills To Digging Deep and Discovering Your Genuine Diamond Subjects

There are many facets to the deep digging commitment but here are three that will crop up again and again as you pursue your passion.

1. Align Your Pursuit With God’s Purpose

Ephesians 2:10 teaches that you are God’s workmanship, created in Christ for good works that He has already prepared for you to walk in. God’s purpose for you is sure and certain, not fickle and fleeting. Digging in to find your zone of genius is as much about prayer as it is about prowess.

Make prayer a priority. Take a leaf out of Mary’s book and sit at the feet of Jesus. His pace may not be the adrenaline fuelled mad dance the world plays, and your dopamine levels may be cold-turkeyed by His refusal to keep jabbing you with a new hit of excitement every six seconds, but when you relent and allow the Shepherd to lead, your FOMO will be washed away and the delights of deeper connection with God, and with your work, will reveal themselves in beautiful and unexpected ways.

2. Keep Digging

I have alluded to this previously. The treasures you seek are not on the surface, and the house and legacy you want to leave is not built on sand. Don’t be discouraged if results don’t drop instantly like ripe fruit from a shaken tree. I know this is easy to say, and to be honest this piece of writing is being inspired by my own deep excavation. Stay the course.

Don’t give up right before your breakthrough.

If you know that your direction is set by God, aligned with His purpose, and fitted with your passion and personality, be ready to settle into a rhythm that consistently moves you toward realization. Create something every day.

Build habits that strengthen your resolve. Continue to add value and share generously even when all you see is more dirt and rocks. This kind of resilient commitment to help others and bring your best to the table will develop the kind of character needful to carry success with grace.

3. Travel light

In the drive to discover your deep, you may find yourself diverted on many occasions. Despite firm focus in one direction, the siren calls of opportunity may bring you to the surface, only to be let down once again. And even if not diverted, some of the subterranean lessons you need to learn on the way to your treasure will be taught by the master mindset coach, one we are all tutored by and whose disguise is one we tend to abhor, failure.

Failing is future success wrapped in a lesson to learn.

Learn the lessons well and carry the wisdom forward with you, but leave the baggage behind. Don’t let yesterday’s mess-ups and missteps weigh you down. Take the next step, dig the next spade, and keep hope and faith as your light-filled guides. Even Jesus was led to times of testing in His wilderness experience, only to return in the power of the Spirit. You can do the same. Wilderness moments are part of the training.

People of Depth

Let’s be a people who are deep, not just wide. Dig with purposeful intent to become all you are created to be. Don’t let the hardness of the way stop you in your tracks. Your diamond day is coming, and the world will be a richer place because you chose to keep digging.

Creative flair shows up in ways that are remarkable. The problem is that many times it shows up for a momentary burst and like a firework, rises into view then plummets back to obscurity. We step out of the shadows for an instant of brilliance then go back to living a succession of mundane moments waiting endlessly for the next zap of inspiration.

A creative flare!

The element that’s missing is not a mystery. Consistency.

Consistent creative action is a key that unclogs the pipes so they can flow more freely and deliver the goods day after day, instead of in fits and spurts.

The romantic ideas that surround creativity and its exercise are partly to blame. Some glamorize artists and writers as tormented souls caught in a tumultuous affair with an esoteric muse. Meanwhile, here on planet earth, they are generally a regular person with an idea and a keyboard or a paintbrush.

Sure, the artistic life is not an ordinary one. It doesn’t come with the same guarantees as some paths we might choose to take, but neither is it otherworldly or weird in any way.

The creative life is one of idea sharing, value bringing, wealth-creating, human loving, generosity.

The artist or writer is starkly aware that the stories they carry are too valuable not to share. A faithful creative is not a hoarder. The compulsion to make a difference in the lives of others compels the creative should to find ways to crystallize that value so it can be consumed and enjoyed by another human heart.

That is why they develop creative disciplines. Habits that descale the inner pipes so ideas can flow from heart to head to hand unhindered.

Much like a pipe in your home, left untended, limescale forms, and flow is diminished. So it is with our creative plumbing. Worry, fear of what others will think or say, chasing money, unbelief, pressure to conform, any or all of the above and more, can choke the artistic arteries.

Here are some creative habits with potent descaling powers:

• Write something every day.
• Read something every day.
• Pray every day.
• Curtail your consumption of unintentional and intrusive content, indulging your curiosity with careful curation.
• Be quick to act on ideas, regardless of outcomes (eg: don’t let your fear of what might or might not happen stop you taking action)
• Stay curious.
• Learn new skills, but only those that feed into your ability to better create and share your worth.
• Connect regularly with other creative souls who share your desire to make a positive impact in the world.

Your creative flair deserves more than a bright but transitory moment in the sky. God created you to be a creator, and His will for you is not fleeting. Allow faith and patience to strengthen your creative steps and keep your faith even when challenges stand in your way.

The pathway to breakthrough is littered with those who burned out. Those whose creative aspirations were dampened. Draw deeper, my friend. Scrub the pipes with some prayer-ing and some share-ing with other faithful creatives.

One place you can do that is in the ChristianCreative.academy, a membership for faithful creatives who are dedicated to making this year the year they see change and Holy Ghost growth in their creative projects.

Men are big on what they make. God is big on WHY they make it. God’s top priority is the motive behind the front-facing life we present to the world.

Scripture so eloquently highlights the vast gulf between the celebrity culture we steep our emotions in and pour our attention upon, and the way of the Spirit:

“But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7 KJV)

The height of his stature…

The people she knows…

The bank balance he boasts, or the clothes that she wears…

The car that they drive, and the house which they own…

How about:

The time they spend in prayer?

The service they offer to their neighbor?

The cleanness of their thoughts, and intentions of their heart?

The loving way they live, and the peace they distribute?

The death they have died to self, and the resurrection life they now display?

Why do you do what you do?

“For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12 AMP)

God’s right here. His penetrating eye sees clearly, “…the secret thoughts and purposes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12 WEYMTH)

Jeremiah points out in no uncertain words:

“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9 NKJV)

This should be a sobering thought for us, especially as salesmen and women. And before you run off thinking you are not selling anything, hang tight. You are!

Each of us has a window we sell to the world, that persona who’s plastered on the public wall.

No way am I suggesting that we can get caught in the game.

I’m not for a moment insinuating that our public and private lives sometimes stand in stark contrast to one another, with a less than perfect life behind the door, and a carefully cultivated image displayed through the various windows we choose to populate.

Not at all. Never. Well, maybe…

But there’s something deeper to consider. The whitewashed world we immerse our attention in is just what it is. The world loves the world and vanity is the norm. What else could we expect, and how can a man not be burned if he stands in the middle of the flames? Case in point, be careful what you consume, you might begin to think it’s real.

Deep to Deep In The Refinery

Dig down to the heart and consider the unplumbed divisions that show up only when we allow deep to call to deep. The ability of our own heart to convince us that we are right and pure, without guile or guise, and purely driven, is quite remarkable.

Think of Peter insisting that he would stand with Jesus whatever may come.

Or the rejection in John in his early discipleship insisting that calling down fire on an unresponsive town was the best course of action to teach them a lesson.

How about Thomas faced with the reality of Messiah’s tomb? Judas tempted by the money purse?

Testing has a tendency to reveal motives that lurk dark below the surface, only showing themselves when the heat is switched.

Step Willingly Into The Fire

Once we stand in the blazing light of Jesus’ presence, the impurities rise to the surface. Better to willingly let Him sift and sizzle them as Savior, rather than wait until you stand before Him as Judge.

God will allow frustrations to boil to the surface. He’ll put flame to your motives to see what remains. The care and concern that the Father has for your soul does not always manifest in ways that that agree with your comforts.

Malachi said that God “sits as a refiner and purifier of silver” (Mal. 3:3).

I read recently about a student who visited a silversmith to watch him at work. Sitting alongside the craftsman he observed him hold the piece of silver in the center of the fire where the flames are hottest to burn away the impurities.

The silversmith remained intently focussed, never turning his attention away.

The student asked why the silversmith had to sit carefully watching over the process at all times. The smith answered that he had to keep his eyes on the silver every second because if the silver were left for a moment too long in the testing fires it would be destroyed.

“You must leave it just long enough to serve its purpose,” he said, “and not a second longer.”

“And how do you know when the purpose is fulfilled and the silver is ready?” Asked the student.

The silversmith smiled, “Oh, that’s easy — when I see my image in it.”

Despite our best western efforts to wriggle out of the implications of some of the things Jesus taught about money, there’s no getting away from an intrusive truth that barges into our culture of accumulation and achievement addiction.

The richest man or woman on earth is not the one with the most money!

In earthly terms, maybe? But at a living, breathing, heart, and soul level you can gain the whole world and yet completely miss the point. No man is poorer than the person who does not know Jesus.

I often wonder if we pursued contentment and gratitude with the save avid intent we chase dollars how much richer we would become. Instead of tomorrow’s hope of more-bigger-and-better stealing today’s joyful appreciation of all we have to be thankful for right now, our lives would overflow with a grateful recognition of God’s provision that trumps any earthly accolade.

And to be clear, I’m not against making money. Far from it. I believe that exchanging value is a God-sanctioned necessity through which we are equipped to serve others well and for the long term. Pitifully-poor is not pretty, nor is it inherently any more spiritual or holy than blisteringly-rich.

Here’s a statement of truly rich living:

“Not that I am implying that I was in any personal want, for I have learned how to be content (satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or disquieted) in whatever state I am. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. ” (Philippians 4:11-12 AMP)

Elsewhere Paul instructed his apprentice, Timothy, and shared with him the little-known secret of the prosperous life:

“But if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content (satisfied).” (1 Timothy 6:8 AMP)

How far removed from the relentless pursuit of stuff that overwhelms our almost every waking moment. What a magnificent ambition to focus on – rich, full, refreshing contentment.

Endless Pursuits

The endless bombardment to become rich, make more, be more, grow big, find followers, feel good, is so contrary to the peaceful pace of grace advocated in the Scriptures.

Here on one side we have the world with its mammon-size measuring stick judging your worth by the number of zero’s at the end of the bottom line number.

On the other, the owner of the entire universe warns…

“Do not gather and heap up and store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust and worm consume and destroy, and where thieves break through and steal. But gather and heap up and store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust nor worm consume and destroy, and where thieves do not break through and steal; For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:19–21 AMP)

Money is a heart issue. Attach your hopes and dreams to it, and it will run you off into the sunset, and soon enough into the dark of night. It parades itself as the promiser of a satisfied life, but rarely if ever delivers lasting satisfaction.

Too little, or too much, can compel us to forsake contentment and rage ourselves silly on the hamster-wheel of ambition.

The richest man is the one who wants for nothing.

I’m pretty sure that “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want,” (Psalm 23:1 NKJV) doesn’t mean that God will lavish upon me all I desire to the point of saturation, where there is not one more “want” I can muster to ask for.

“I shall not want,” quite frankly, sounds like an invitation to a peaceful existence freed from the painful pursuit of transitory things.

It speaks of a life so embraced by the Shepherd’s care that I no longer care what anyone else thinks.

It’s the day we awake to the truth that not only do we already have enough, we are enough! No additives required.

When was the last time you sat down secure, satiated fully by the Father’s overwhelming love?

When do you take time to lie back and float in the warm, still waters of wantlessness?

I think there’s treasure in those wantless waters that many of us have never tasted. The world can splash in the bloody and restless oceans all they like, but as for me and my house, I choose to follow my Shepherd to satisfactions the world can never offer.

Hope is an anchor, thrown and lodged in the presence of God. Through any storm below, our feeble life is held in place deep inside the eternal Presence.

“Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;” (Hebrews 6:19 KJV)

On the floor, here in the stormy winds of life on earth, our boats would be battered on the rocks of disappointment were it not for a rich and living hope that stretches the chasm of time and takes hold of the eternal. Jesus is our assurance. His life, death, and resurrection offers the perspective that no earthly circumstances can dim.

Crossing To The Other Side

I love the way the New Testament relates the story of the disciples crossing the choppy Sea of Galilee in Matthew 14. “Go over to the other side,” Jesus instructs. Most of us know what it is to be crossing to an “other side.”

The other side may be financial freedom. It may be a strong and secure marriage. Maybe your other side is a satisfying job in which you are respected and appreciated or a breakthrough in ministry. The other side for some might be their child coming home or a sickness healed.

Rest assured, Hope has instructed you to cross over. Not to stay on the shore looking into the void. Hope has made His word known, and that word is your bridge to a better future.

The command to cross over does not come with any guarantees that the journey there will not pose challenges, however.

Tossing Waves & Contrary Winds

The disciples faced tossing waves and contrary winds.

I’m certain you have faced similar threats to your peace. God says one thing, and everything around is screaming otherwise. Been there, got the wet suit!

Hope is the anchor.

Hope stays attached to the Word, and the word is settled where? In Heaven.

Our life is connected to eternity through faithful Words that never fail.

Even the presence of God seemed like a specter in the face of the storm. The surly disciples’ previous bravado was left trembling. Even when Jesus emerged from the froth it seemed to them unbelievable that the other side was within their grasp. The harsh winds and bearing waves had all but dissipated their confidence.

Despite their cries, and in the face of their stark unbelief, here are the words that Hope spoke through the darkness.

“Be of good cheer! It is I, be not afraid!”

His word in Heaven to anchor our soul.

His presence on earth, walking above the storm, to cheer us.

Jesus first – everything else follows

Eyes on Him. Heart wrapped around His promises. Heart on fire with the lively expectation of eternal life, and disdain for the devil’s lies.

God’s words are active and carry the power of fulfillment within themselves. When He says, “Go to the other side,” the very words themselves, believed and received in the heart, are the bridge over the wildest waves.

What has God spoken to you? What anchor has He fixed deep within the veil for you to hold onto?

Keep rowing friend. Keep scooping out the water that threatens to sink your little ship. Not even stormy seas in darkest hours can stop your progress.

Jesus is no apparition. He is alive.

The storm may shout, but Jesus words are like many waters, drowning out the discouragement. He is faithful indeed, a living hope that can never be extinguished or calmed.

Culture is a dirty bowl in which we swim, blind to the world outside the foggy walls. When we’re immersed in something so thoroughly we lose awareness that it may well not be reality, or at least not reality in the fullest sense.

The world you think you inhabit, is formed to conform you to its image. No one in their right mind would wear some of the clothes we wear, until everyone is wearing them. The ideologies that at one time would have been clearly seen for their absurdity are now embraced as common progressive wisdom, even though they are just as dumb and nonsensical as they ever were.

Drip, drip, drip from our screens and devices, desensitizing us to right living, and eternal values. God and His holy nature and rule are sidelined in favor of the latest trend.

Here in the post-modern West (or are me now post-post modern? I’ve lost count of the milestones we have crossed) our culture is drowned in materialism, bowed obediently at the feet of the twin Gods of Accumulation and Accomplishment. Both are harsh taskmasters, never satisfied however much we lay at their feet.

Early mornings and late nights sacrifice family and health on the altar.

Oh, great god of repute and prestige, wouldst thou see fit to grant me an iPhone 13 plus pro max with an extra shot and a side of fries.

Immortal goddess, bless thy servant with seven more hours in thy appointed day of busyness to work the last few breaths of my skinny backside off.

Steeped!

How easy it is to fail to appreciate the pervasive nature of culture, and how hard to see beyond our own traditions. Our world is the world, just as the bowl of the goldfish is her vast kingdom, with glassy walls keeping her safely incarcerated.

This is why Paul was compelled to write:

“Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].” (Romans 12:2 AMP)

God has a good, acceptable, indeed, perfect will for you, and surprise, surprise, it lays outside the bounds of present-day cultural norms.

His perfect way is not driven by market dynamics. The way of Christ is not herded by the modern heroes of stage and screen. It’s not measured by money, likes, follows, sales, subscribers, or man-made meters of any kind.

Awareness of our condition is not automatic. Just because we think we know our state doesn’t mean we actually do. It takes intentionality to extract ourselves from the greedy grip of modernity and reclaim the ancient paths.

“This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Jeremiah 6:16 NIV)

The alarming thing is the answer given by the people of Jeremiah’s day:

“We will not walk in it.” (Jeremiah 6:16)

Are we saying the same thing when instead of ancient paths of peace we choose the frantic search for significance? When we forsake the abundant life in Christ to scramble for our piece of the world’s more-is-never-enough pie?

God’s ways are not heavy. His commandments are not burdensome.

John the beloved apostle so beautifully reminds us:

“This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” (1 John 5:3–4 NIV)

Let the world scrap it out for the crumbs under the table. Instead, come sit with Christ and eat heartily of His truths and love.

Here as a starter is a juicy morsel from Isaiah. An appetizer to prepare your heart for a lifetime of feasting with the King:

“Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.” (Isaiah 55:1–3 KJV)

Bon Appetit!