The Thriving Christian Artist
The Thriving Christian Artist
God Doesn't Revoke Your Calling When You Struggle
Ever wonder if your artistic struggles mean you've missed God's calling? When marketing feels overwhelming, business challenges mount, and self-doubt creeps in, it's easy to question everything. I've walked this path myself—the last two years brought some of my biggest professional challenges as shifting markets and changing landscapes left me wondering if my trajectory had changed.
These tactical troubles—marketing confusion, business overwhelm, inconsistent studio time, pricing frustrations, and imposter syndrome—can feel like flashing warning signs telling us we're failing. But here's the transformative truth: your struggles don't indicate failure; they signal growth. You're learning, developing, and expanding—exactly as you should be.
Scripture offers us powerful anchors during these storms. Romans 11:29 reminds us that "God's gifts and his call are irrevocable." He hasn't changed His mind about your creative calling just because things got difficult. Galatians 6:9 encourages persistence: we will reap if we don't give up. And Philippians 1:6 assures us that God will complete the good work He started in you.
To navigate these tactical challenges while staying aligned with your divine trajectory, I offer three proven approaches: refocus your "why" daily through intentional time with God, simplify by focusing on just the next step rather than trying to solve everything simultaneously, and surround yourself with supportive community rather than struggling alone.
You aren't behind, disqualified, or forgotten. You're exactly where you need to be—in process, becoming everything God designed you to be. Don't miss our free Thriving Christian Artist Weekly newsletter for regular encouragement, tips, and featured artist stories. Subscribe now through the link in the show notes and join thousands of artists discovering how to thrive in their creative calling!
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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, so glad that you're with me today on the podcast. You know, over the years I've seen so many artists, talented artists, really great people just give up this whole calling that God's given them as an artist. And it's not over huge things that you might think it is. In fact, it's actually what I would call tactics, the things that we just have to do, the practicalities of being an artist. But here's the deal as artists, it's so easy to get tripped up right by the tactical struggles that we have, the business challenges and the marketing hiccups or bombs or whatever, the lack of focus, the self-doubt that all comes in. Listen, all of those kind of tactical struggles that we're always having to navigate. They can be really difficult for us internally and that manifests externally in our life. But listen, one of the things the enemy wants to get you to do is to allow those struggles to define your calling and ultimately, to define the trajectory, if you will, of your life. And I just want to encourage you today in today's podcast don't let these temporary struggles cloud your eternal trajectory, this visionary process that God has brought you into, of developing you as an artist, of co-laboring with you as his son, as his daughter, and also moving into everything that he has for you in your life. Listen, I wish that I could say I've never had this struggle at all. Actually, I would say the last two years of my life have been probably one of the biggest struggles that I've had in regards to tactics being something that just about well, I hate to admit it, but it really just about put me out of the game. I was probably walked through the worst, biggest struggles over the last couple of years that I've walked through in my life, primarily because of unmet expectations. Things didn't work out the way I thought they were going to work out.
Speaker 1:If you've not noticed, the marketing world has completely changed over the last few years. The art world has completely changed. People are wanting different things, learning in different ways. Just the whole scene in which I've been navigating very successfully for a lot of years just really, really changed and, I'll be honest, it threw me for a loop and it caused me to wonder has the trajectory of my life changed, God? Is this calling that you have for me over? Is the way that you're positioning me in your kingdom? Is that transitioning into a whole different realm? It just caused a lot of struggle in my life, and so I'm speaking to you today out of a place of real I don't know. Tenderness in my own heart, but also a desire to say listen, if I'm walking through this, I know a lot of you guys are walking through it as well, and I hope that today is an encouragement for you in that regard.
Speaker 1:Now, when you think about common struggles that we all face as artists some of the big ones that I see kind of psych people out and again allowing tactics to really overwhelm and throw off your trajectory the main ones I see a lot of times marketing confusion like how do you even start getting your work out there? What's the things that are working, what's not? This constant need to be trying things and testing and measuring that can be frustrating Business overwhelm, right? If you're trying to grow a business and you've never had a successful business of any kind before. Maybe you've been a teacher, maybe you've been a stay-at-home parent, Maybe you've been somebody that's in a completely different job market or job opportunity. You've never owned your own business. It can be a lot right to learn how to do that. That's one of the reasons why we started the mentoring program so many years ago is to lay that out and make it a much easier step-by-step process. But I get it, it's still a lot of stuff Life happening and inconsistent studio time or inconsistent focus for your artwork can really be a downer for you. It can be one of those things that the enemy brings shame in and a lot of frustration in. I totally get that.
Speaker 1:Also, I think pricing your work, selling your work, all the stuff that goes around with that not a minute, not to mention, you know, imposter syndrome, fear of failure all of those things can really have an effect on your inner world, right, the way that you perceive your life, your calling what's possible and today I really want you to hear this from me you are not failing when you struggle with any of that. What's happening is you're growing right. You're learning new things. You're learning how to take some things out of focus and put other things into focus. You're learning things you've never done before. So struggle does not mean that you're missing it or that you have missed it, or that you're too late or somehow you're disqualified. No, it means that you're normal. It means that you're walking it out. It means that you are a human being that's walking through a process of development.
Speaker 1:And if you're the kind of person like I am, which often expects perfection the first time you start something, listen, you just got to back up, take a deep breath and give yourself some grace, Because those tactical struggles, when the enemy comes in in the middle of you having a struggle like that, it can absolutely cause you to doubt your calling. Or maybe, if you're not doubting your calling, maybe it just causes you to feel absolutely stuck and like you don't even know what to do. But again, I want to just go back to this God's calling for your life is not being revoked or being totally limited by your current ability or your current performance or your current struggle. Again, your current ability or your current performance or your current struggle Again, you're human. Your struggle in the middle of this and you're learning new issues and you're maturing in your gift is not making God nervous in any way, shape or form.
Speaker 1:And I think this is a great opportunity, and we talk about this kind of thing so much in our Foundations course and also in the mentoring program. You got to go back to Scripture, right. Because if you don't allow the Word of God about this kind of thing so much in our Foundations course and also in the mentoring program, you got to go back to Scripture, right. Because if you don't allow the Word of God to create the lens through which you see yourself and which you see what's possible in your life, you will be out to lunch and you'll be an easy target for the enemy.
Speaker 1:And so, number one, I want to go to Romans 11, 29, which says what, what, For God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. In other words, if God has called you to this, he has not changed his mind. God has not changed his mind. Your inability to do everything perfectly has not caused God to pull back the gifts and say I thought Sally was going to be able to handle it, but she can't do it. Boy, I thought Bob, I thought Matt, he was going to be able to handle it, but look, he screwed up twice this week. I better pull this calling and give it to somebody else. Nope, that is not the way it works. The gifts and callings of God are without repentance. They're irrevocable, they're yours. They came with a package God's not pulling them back and so you got to lean into that in faith and just say God, thank you that I'm in this for the long haul and you're in this for the long haul.
Speaker 1:Also, look at Galatians 6, 9. It says this let us not grow weary in doing good and, I would say, you know, in pursuing your calling as an artist. Why? For in due season we will reap. If what? If you don't give up. So what's your job? And my job is to be faithful, is to keep sowing, is to keep working the ground, even if you don't see the harvest yet. That's the nature of the kingdom.
Speaker 1:We are not responsible for producing fruit in our life. We're responsible for being faithful to the vine. The vine is Jesus, right? He said I'm the vine, You're the branches. Apart from me, you can do nothing, but with me you can do anything right. And so our job is not to try to be squeezing out the fruit of perfection all the time in our life, but it's to stay faithful to the things that God has called us to, trusting that in due season, he will bring forth fruit in the right place at the right time.
Speaker 1:And then I think Philippians 1.6 is just always a huge encouragement to me. It says listen, he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion. Other versions say he who began a good work in you is faithful to complete it right. In other words, God is not finished. You're on a divine trajectory with him, and even when the road gets rocky, and even when you struggle, and even when you're like I want to give up, this is hard, yes, it's hard. If it was easy, everybody would do it right. If it was easy, you could do it in your own strength. And so the very fact that you're struggling, the very fact that you can't do it by yourself, the very fact that you can't do it, perfect every time, proves what that this ain't about you. This is God's story, and the only way, listen, the only way that you're going to be able to walk in the things that God has called you to is by his spirit and through his strength. And so, listen, you got to zoom out right. You got to get out of the weeds, get out of the tactics, get out of the frustration you know, zoom out and begin to realize, hey, this is God's story.
Speaker 1:These tactics and these marketing things and all this stuff that so easily entangles me. They're important, they're a part of my calling as an artist, but they are not the measuring stick of my worth or my identity or my destiny in the Lord. They're a training ground, right For perseverance and faith. And, just like you and I, when we're kids, right, we learn how to walk. We stand up, we take two steps, we fall right. We learn how to walk, we stand up, we take two steps, we fall right. I know that that's not easy to take. As an adult, we want to think that we're all smooth and we got it all together, but that is just not reality, and so I want to give you three things today. I think that will help you really take in stride this whole idea of tactical struggles not being something that's going to get you in trouble when it comes to doubting the trajectory of your life.
Speaker 1:Number one I would say is this refocus your why. In other words, on a regular basis, hopefully every day when you're taking time to be with the Lord, be in his presence, pray in the spirit, journaling, listening for his voice, Listen one of the things that you need to be doing on a regular basis, and I encourage people to do this through a vision board, through whatever it is that you do that helps you remember who you are in Christ and what he's called you to. You need to remember who you are in the Lord, what your calling is and what God has spoken over your life. You need to thank him for it. God, thank you that I'm an artist. Thank you that this is your story. Thank you that I'm walking with you by faith. Thank you that, as I'm faithful to you, I can trust that you're going to be opening doors of provision and favor and opportunity and resources and relationships for everything I need to be successful in the season and in the assignment that you've called me to. That's got to be a daily, intentional focus of your life.
Speaker 1:Second thing I would say is this always just be looking at the next step, right, Don't be. I know vision's important. I know planning's important. Listen, all of you that have heard me talk for years about 90-day planning, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, it's important, but you can't fix everything at once, and so simplify your next step right. Look at the things that you're trying to accomplish in your life, in your art, in your business perhaps, and just say, hey, what's the one thing that I can do today to take the next step? All right, I think when you can learn to just take step by step by step by step, that makes this walking with the Lord and pursuing the trajectory of our life a whole lot easier.
Speaker 1:And then the third thing I would say is this you're not designed to do this journey as an artist alone. I know we all want to think that we're Superman and Superwoman, that we got it all together, that we can figure it out on our own, but the bottom line is very, very few people can do that. And so I would say number three get support, Find a community, Find the coaching and mentoring that you need, Find the courses that you do. Don't do this thing alone and listen. For some of you, that may be in your local area, with an art mentor in the specific art medium that you're pursuing. It may be your art council or a group of your church or whatever. For others, and for thousands of artists all over the world, it's become the Created to Thrive Artist Mentoring Program or our Foundations Course community where you can learn to connect with other artists who love Jesus, who are on this journey of development and who are serious and intentional about being everything that God has called them to be in their life.
Speaker 1:But listen, those three things, if you'll be faithful to do those just refocusing your why, thanking God for who he is, what he's called you to, simplifying your next step and making sure that you're not trying to do this thing alone, but walking with support, man, those things make all the difference. Listen, I just want to remind you again you are not behind. No matter how behind you feel, no matter how disqualified you feel, you're not disqualified. You're not behind. Listen, you're in process. You're becoming everything that God designed for you to be and I just want to encourage you don't let these tactical troubles detour the divine trajectory that God has for your life. God has his hand on your life, His favor is on your life, he's for you, he's not against you. He's got good plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future.
Speaker 1:So, listen, stay faithful in the little things and, just like it says in Isaiah 30, 21, whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying this is the way. Walk in it, Jesus. I thank you today, Lord, that you are that voice behind us. And even now, in the new covenant God, you're the voice within us, voice behind us. And even now, in the new covenant, God, you're the voice within us. Holy Spirit, you're living inside of us, active and ready to speak and to lead and to guide. And, Holy Spirit, I ask that you would open the ears of our spirit, open the eyes of our heart, God, that we could see and hear and sense what you're saying and where you're leading, so that we would be fully convinced, fully persuaded on the inside, that the things that you've called us to and the way that you've designed us is on purpose, for your purpose, in our generation and in this season of our life. We thank you for that, God, in Jesus name. Amen. Hey, I love you, my friend.
Speaker 1:Be sure, make sure that you're subscribed to the podcast so that you don't miss any of the episodes. Also, make sure that you are subscribed to the Thriving Christian Artist Weekly. It's our brand new weekly newsletter that comes out with encouragement, with tips, with business and marketing with spiritual and devotional items that I'm giving you every week, as well as featured artists that we're just featuring, to be able to share the story of their life and how God's working in their life. Listen, you do not want to miss it. It's absolutely free. You can get the link right here in the podcast and make sure that you are subscribed to the Thriving Christian Artist Weekly and to this podcast. Hey, I love you. Thanks for being here and remember till next time. You were created to thrive. Bye 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.