God Never Asked You to Put Your Art On Hold

The lie sounds responsible: “I’ll make art when life calms down.” But if you’re a Christian artist with a full-time job, a family, and a mind that won’t stop second-guessing your calling, that calm season can turn into a moving target you never catch. We’re pushing back on that idea with a simple, freeing truth: God doesn’t grow artists in perfect seasons. He grows them in surrendered ones, right in the middle of real life.

We share the story of Billy, a working artist with three teenagers at home who spent years away from his studio. He was tired, busy, and quietly wrestling with identity questions like “Am I really an artist?” Instead of waiting for everything to line up, Billy chose to show up. He reconnected with the Lord, started creating consistently, and pursued mentorship and community through the Thriving Christian Artist Pathway. Within a few months, he sold his first painting, got accepted into his first art festival, and began discovering his unique artistic voice.

Along the way, we break down four practical reminders rooted in Scripture and lived experience: there’s never a perfect time to plant, small beginnings matter, teachability and godly community accelerate growth, and real momentum comes from faithful obedience rather than striving. You’ll walk away with a clear next step you can take today, even if it’s small, ordinary, and imperfect. If this encouraged you, subscribe, share it with a creative friend, and leave a review that tells us what part hit home.

Subscribe to our Youtube Channel 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 1:13

God never asks you to put your art on hold because your life is busy. I mean, a lot of well-meaning Christian artists believe that, but as if there's someday going to be this like perfect season when life finally slows down and they could finally be the artist that they dream of being. But listen, here's the truth. God doesn't grow artists in these, you know, perfect seasons. He grows them in surrendered ones. And so today I want to share the story of one artist who had every reason to wait on that perfect season and why his story proves that God isn't just asking you to wait until someday. He's actually ready to start moving in your life and in your art right now. So let's jump in. So I want to share a story of a friend of mine named Billy. He's one of the students I have inside the Thriving Christian Artist Pathway and in our community. And he's like a lot of folks that I work with every day. He had a full-time job for a lot of years. He had a family, like three teenagers at home. I mean, it doesn't get any busier than that. And he had, you know, because of all the busyness and the job

Busy Life, Real Calling

SPEAKER_00 2:08

and all the stuff, he had years kind of away from his art. You know, every day he'd go to work, he'd come home, he was tired. You know, he started doubting his calling. Like, am I really an artist? Is does God really have this for me anymore? Am I being selfish? Like all the stuff, right? And because of that, he's struggling with his identity. Did God really create me for this? I mean, all that stuff, right? Just going around in his head. But here's the thing that makes Billy's story so different. Instead of waiting for a better season, he just got tired of it, right? He started intentionally spending time with the Lord. He started getting in his studio. He started creating

Billy Stops Waiting And Starts

SPEAKER_00 2:43

consistently again. He found me uh out there on the interwebs. He started, you know, he jumped into the thriving Christian artist pathway. He started walking through the lessons, walking the path that I've laid out, started learning all the things that he needed to learn about how to renew his mind, understand how God wired him. And guess what? Very quickly, in just a few months, he sold his first painting. And he's like, whoa, what is happening? Right. And then after that, he was accepted into his first art festival. I mean, that that's a huge deal, right? For a guy that was just kind of sitting on waiting, just like, what's gonna happen? Right. And then even better, he started figuring out and discovering his unique artistic voice. And again, all of that started happening in his life so quickly, not because life got easier or there was this perfect scenario, not because God, you know, got in a better mood and decided like, today I'm gonna bless Billy. No, it stopped because he stopped waiting on the perfect season. And listen, that's kind of the question I want to ask you today. Have you been waiting on the perfect season? I mean, maybe you're in that kind of place today, waiting for that time just like Billy was, where all the things to line up perfectly. If that's you, I want to remind you of a few things today. And the first is this God isn't waiting for you to be an artist and pursue your art when your life slows down. The truth is your calling as an artist, your design as an artist is not on hold because your life is busy. In fact, in Ecclesiastes 11:4, it says, Whoever watches the wind will not plant. In other words, there's never a perfect time, right? I've just learned over the years in my own life and from watching people like Billy over the years, we can't wait for perfect conditions. God is working in the ordinary seasons, the mundane seasons, especially the seasons that don't make sense to our natural mind or our natural timeline. The second thing I've learned is this

Four Reminders For Momentum

SPEAKER_00 4:36

God grows artists who keep showing up faithfully. Listen, faithfully and faithfulness, if you will, you know, beats perfection every time. In fact, I love that verse in Zechariah 4.10 that says, Don't despise the days of small beginnings, right? I mean, everything in God's kingdom starts as a little bitty seed, right? One that looks insignificant. But when we trust the one who gave us the seed, when we trust the seed, when we trust the gift God's given us, guess what? We can start creating for rest in him and not striving. We can we can start learning that small, consistent steps, that's what builds momentum. And listen, as much as I wish it would happen overnight and things would just be like bam, most of the time they don't. But here's the thing I've learned, and Billy's learn, and others are learning, God's faithful, which brings us to number three. God transforms artists, and I believe gives momentum to artists who stop wandering on their own. Listen, if you've been watching the channel for a while, you know that I've been a working artist for a lot of years. I've been mentoring artists for decades now. And listen, I can say definitively, a hundred percent of the time, artists who choose to be teachable, to walk a proven path and do it inside of a godly community of other artists that are on that same journey, it accelerates their growth every time, bar none. You know, Proverbs 15, 22 says, our plans fail for lack of counsel. But with many advisors, guess what? They succeed. In other words, you got to be teachable. You got to let people speak in to your journey. In Hebrews 10, 24 and 25, it says, Let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good works, not neglecting to do what? To meet with one another. See, Billy stopped trying to figure it out all on his own. So many of my other students have committed to do that as well. He was willing to ask for help. He's willing to invest in his journey. Yeah, it cost him something time and energy, money, yes, even resources. But guess what? When he began applying the things that he was learning and connecting in the community and showing up and asking questions, guess what? When he started doing that, the result was he started seeing the momentum that he always thought was out there just someday. Which really brings me to number four and is this momentum always follows our faithful obedience. You know, a lot of times we think that momentum is about the work that we do, right? Like we got to get out here and make it happen, gin it up. But I've just learned momentum, uh, you know, that that lasting fruit that we're looking for and that that growth in our life and and our journey feeling like it's moving, it happens out of faithfulness, not striving. And certainly not out of waiting for perfect circumstances. I mean, I love it in Galatians 6, 9, and I have to read this all the time. Don't grow weary and doing good. For at the proper time, we'll reap a harvest if what? If we don't give up. Listen, the sales that he's had, the art show that Billy's had, the finding his artistic voice, all the stuff, those weren't goals in themselves. They were the result, the fruit of faithfully stewarding the calling that God put on his life as an artist. And listen, the same can be true for you. No matter where you are on your journey, I promise you, one faithful step today in that direction is more worth a whole lot more than waiting on the perfect season. And so maybe that looks like starting to paint or draw today. Maybe it looks like grabbing your instrument and showing up on the porch after work and just taking some time to enjoy your creativity with the Lord again with no expectations or preconceived notions of what it's going to look like. Maybe it looks like prioritizing the thing that God's given you as a gift creatively, instead of prioritizing everybody else's priorities and emergencies in your life. I don't know what that one faithful small little step is for you today, but I do promise you this. If you'll take it and you'll take it in God's direction, he will absolutely honor it. And hey, if you know you need some help understanding the calling that God has on your life as an artist, and maybe you even want to have some help getting rid of some of the junk that's held you back over the years, and even giving you a proven pathway to start selling your art and making a meaningful impact with a gift that God's given you. I just want to remind you, that's exactly what the Thriving Christian Artist Pathway is all about. Not only is it a clear roadmap, but it's also an incredible community of artists who are walking the same journey as you are, loving Jesus, making art, doing the thing that He's created us to do, encouraging each other along the way in the good times and the tough times. And I promise you, if you're serious about becoming the artist that God created you to be, it is the absolute best place for you to join. Hey, I love you, my friend. Thank you so much for being here today. Make sure to comment, leave me a comment, let me know what part of this video was the most impactful for you today.

One Small Step Today

SPEAKER_00 9:39

Which one of those reminders is kind of sticking in your heart? And maybe have you been somebody that's been waiting on the perfect timing instead of being willing to step out and take that small step towards your creative gifting. I promise you, when you do that, it's like pouring gas on a fire. And when you you start taking steps toward what God's created you to do, you're going to start feeling his momentum and his joy and his fulfillment again, like never before. I love you, friend. Till next time. Remember, you were created to thrive. Bye.