The Thriving Christian Artist
The Thriving Christian Artist
Overcoming Overwhelm in Your Artistic Journey
Feeling overwhelmed is a reality many artists face, and it's one that we tackle head-on in this episode of the Thriving Christian Artist podcast. After decades of navigating the artistic journey, I’ve found that balancing faith with the pressures of creativity, finances, and personal expectations requires a conscious choice to trust God's timing. Join us as we explore a listener's story from the Created to Thrive Foundations course, where she bravely shares her struggle with anxiety amidst her rapidly unfolding creative path. Through this heartfelt conversation, we discuss the importance of acknowledging emotions and finding peace in God's guidance, rather than succumbing to external stresses.
By leaning into scriptural wisdom and the profound teachings of Jesus, we uncover the power of casting our cares onto the Lord. Whether you're grappling with the pace of your creative journey or wrestling with life's unexpected turns, this episode offers practical and spiritual strategies to navigate those moments of overwhelm. Discover how embracing God's invitation can transform your artistic and life journey, and learn to walk in a season of trust, peace, and joy. This conversation promises to provide encouragement and actionable insights for artists at any stage of their path.
Join us inside the Created to Thrive Foundations Course and Community for just $27/mo at http://www.matttommeymentoring.com/foundations
Welcome to the Thriving Christian Artist, the podcast where we hope you connect with God to bust through the roadblocks that have held you back for years, create the work you love and really live the life you know. God created you to live as an artist in His kingdom. I'm Matt Tama, your host. Let's get started. Well, hey, my friend, welcome to the podcast. So glad that you're here with me today.
Speaker 1:I recently got an email from a student of mine who's in our Created to Thrive Foundations course, who was really struggling with the feeling of being overwhelmed with, you know, all the pressures that she's trying to grow in regards to her skill level. Not only that, but also sharing her art, starting to sell, even dealing with some things from the past. All of that's kind of happening a little bit faster and a little bit sooner than she planned and she's wrestling with that anxiety that can be very natural that comes with that and wondering in the middle of that hey, is God actually maybe nudging me forward a little faster than I thought? Or is this me kind of, you know, yielding to fear and and all the stuff that's getting in the way? Listen, if you've been an artist for very long at all and you're trying to walk with the Lord and deal with stuff in your life, you recognize absolutely this tension between the creative pace of your life, trusting the Lord, the external pressure that you can feel from finances and social media, and even your own expectations. And listen, if you're struggling with that or have ever struggled with that, or if you've not yet, you will. So, either way, this is going to be a great, great episode for you, as we really.
Speaker 1:I want to jump in today talking about God's timing, learn to trust that, learn to find peace in the process, and also trying to navigate some of those overwhelming moments that we can face. As an artist Because I don't know about you, but after doing this for 30 plus years, you realize that those moments of anxiety and real moments where you get to step out and trust the Lord, they happen more often than not. I want to start out with this thought the first thing I think that we've got to do in these situations where overwhelm and anxiety is coming in, where things are moving too fast or either too slow or we're just getting overwhelmed with what's going on, it's really important not to stuff that. It's important not to just positive thinking your way out of that. It's important to realize, hey, it's okay for me to feel this way. God gave me emotions. He gave me emotions to be able to deal with things, to process things. And it's okay for me to acknowledge that, hey, I am overwhelmed, I'm anxious, I'm going through a moment here.
Speaker 1:But it's also important for us, as believers, to never just stay in our feelings. It's important, I think, to always take those feelings to the Lord and realize that, hey, god cares about every part of your journey, your creative journey, your business journey, your life journey, your healing journey. And I love to kind of rest back on 1 Peter, 5, 7, that this says this give all of your worries and cares to God. Why? Because he cares for you. Jesus talked about this too. Right, come unto me all you who are heavy laden. I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Again, there's this idea that when you are anxious and overwhelmed and frustrated you do, even though it may not feel like it sometimes you absolutely have a choice and your intentionality in that moment really makes the difference on whether you're able to move through those feelings and those seasons of overwhelm in a successful way, or you continue to stay stuck and overwhelmed, and so learning to make that exchange with the Lord of hey, I'm acknowledging I'm feeling like this, you know, I'm feeling like this Lord, but I'm going to trust, in this moment, that, as I give these cares, as I give these anxieties literally like just pushing them over to his side of the table, lord, I trust that you care for me and you're going to give me peace and joy and the understanding that I need to be able to walk in this season.
Speaker 1:Number two, I think it's super important to realize that God's timing in our life and when we're learning to walk with that, it's always led by an invitation. It's always led by peace, not by feeling pressure, not by feeling driven. You know, god is always, I believe, leading us by invitation. He's leading us by showing us what could be, showing us what could be if we'll step out in faith, showing us what could be if we'll trust him, by giving him some of the baggage that we've had in our life. The enemy, though, is always coming as what, the accuser of the brethren, the one that brings pressure through fear and anxiety and rush, and if you don't do this, you're going to miss this, all this FOMO kind of stuff.
Speaker 1:And so, again, when you're in a moment where life is moving faster or slower than you thought it would and you're getting anxious and overwhelmed about that, it's important, I think, to just press the pause button and say Lord, I'm going to pause in this moment, I'm going to trust that you're right here with me because you're. You know, the Holy Spirit is not outside of you guys. He, he lives in you as a believer in Jesus. He's resonant inside of you. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. He's closer than the very breath that you breathe. So pause for a moment and say Lord, I want to get back in touch with your presence, your peace. I'm going to. I'm asking you, lord, for clarity as opposed to feeling rushed and overwhelmed, and I'm just going to breathe in your peace right now and acknowledge that you are with me on board, leading, guiding, directing, available in this moment, and I don't have to be led by pressure or led by fear or anxiety Anytime you're feeling those things guaranteed. Those are not from the Lord.
Speaker 1:Now number three, and I think this is kind of a longer term solution as you grow older I'm 51 now, I'll be 52 in September I'm like, oh my gosh, it's a lot of months away, but I'm like I can see it on the horizon. You know, as you get older and some of you are saying, man, you're just a baby. I know. I know Some of you are saying I'll never be 52.
Speaker 1:Well, we're all in different seasons, right, and I think as you grow older you learn you got to trust the season that you're in. I mean, remember Ecclesiastes says for everything there's a season, a time, for every activity under heaven and for every artist and every person who loves Jesus. Our artist journey is different. There's no right time to start selling, to start sharing, to start doing this, to start doing that. The right time is the time that, the moment that you feel that inspiration and leading of the Holy Spirit, you got to trust that, as you're walking by faith and stepping with the Lord in that, he's going to be leading your experiences in your life. I can just look at so many times in my life where things didn't necessarily made sense but I kept walking by faith with the Lord and as I did, he continued to lead me and guide me and give me his peace.
Speaker 1:The other thing about that is, you know, a lot of times we're always searching for this unrealistic sort of idea of perfection in the middle of it. And listen, your art and the process of making your art and sharing your art is meaningful and is important to God and it's important for you, even when you may feel it's imperfect. I mean, remember second Corinthians 12, nine. It says God's power is made perfect where in our weakness, so you can absolutely be having an impact on others and be encountering the Lord yourself, even when you feel your skills and your art aren't not, you know, aren't yet perfect in your life. Again, that goes back to trusting the Lord in the process and realizing you know, number next that, hey, you don't.
Speaker 1:To trusting the Lord in the process and realizing you know number next, that, hey, you don't have to be worried about the pressure of provision, because why? Provision comes from the Lord. Provision comes as a promise, not because of who you are right, based on who you are, your position as a son, as a daughter, not because of your performance, not because you do this or that. And so learning to trust God for provision and for opportunities and resources and relationships and divine appointments, and all of that learning to do that in the season you're in, at the pace the Lord is leading you. That is one of the major things, I think. If you can learn to do that and begin to practice that, it shuts down the pressure of the enemy in your life to torture you with feelings of lack and fear. The last couple of things I would say is this Healing your healing journey and also sharing your artwork and even your development as an artist. These things have to happen at your own pace.
Speaker 1:None of us get into traumatic situations and difficulties and habits in our life in a regular rhythm and we don't walk out of those in a regular rhythm. I know people that have had instant breakthrough in their life in situations, and I know people that it's taken years to learn to walk with the Lord and allow Him to heal the broken places of their heart. Same thing with learning to share their art. Some people come out man. They instantly got a huge following on Instagram. Others, it takes months and even years to begin to grow a following of people that really care about your journey.
Speaker 1:But here's the deal when you're walking with the Lord and you're trusting that every day, hey, the steps of the righteous are ordered by the Lord, god's not calling me to be fruitful, he's calling me to be faithful, and when I'm faithful, he produces the fruit through me as a natural result of my connectedness to him and my faithfulness in that process. Listen, when you begin to trust that that God's working on me and he's working through me at the pace that he wants to do, as I'm showing up every day and being faithful to that process, again it takes all of the pressure off of you. Listen, if I've learned anything in this life, in this over 30 years of making, it's realizing that God is not in a hurry. In my life, in my art, marketing, in whatever I'm trying to do, he is walking at his pace. He's walking at the pace that he knows we need to walk in so that we can take in and process all of the healing that he has for us, all the opportunities that he has for us, and if you can learn to trust that, you get you start walking in a whole lot more peace and less anxiety than you may have ever walked in.
Speaker 1:Listen, I want to pray for you real quick as we end, because I know a lot of us are are struggling with this kind of stuff all the time and father, I just want to thank you right now for not only the creativity that you've placed in us, but the promise that you've placed in each of us as well the promise to bless us, the promise to lead us, the promise to guide us and heal us. And, lord, we get frustrated with that sometimes, but, god, I pray that you would help us trust your timing, release our anxiety to you and find joy in the process of walking with you as an artist in your kingdom. Lord, bring healing in our hearts where it's needed. Remind us that you're our ultimate provider and that you're the lover of our soul and a good, good father. We thank you for that in Jesus name. Amen. I love you, my friend.
Speaker 1:Thanks so much for being on the podcast today. Remember, share it with a friend if it's been a blessing to you. Make sure that you're subscribed and remember till next time. You were created to thrive. Bye, hey, thanks so much for spending a few minutes with me today on the podcast listen. I hope it's been a huge encouragement to you on your journey as an artist. Hey, also, before you leave, make sure to hit the subscribe button so you don't miss any of the other episodes of the Thriving Christian Artist podcast, and also be sure to connect with me on Facebook, instagram or at my website, which is matttommymentoringcom. Until next time, remember you were created to thrive. Bye-bye.