The Greatest Creator (of Them All)

Music has always been a source of comfort and inspiration to me. Over the years, certain artists have served as a constant in my musical life, and I find myself seeking out their music when I need calm or cheer. One of those artists is Doyle Lawson, a highly accomplished bluegrass and bluegrass gospel musician. Doyle’s music, to me, is as close to perfect as music can get, and I appreciate his dedication to his craft. Over the span of forty plus years, Doyle traveled the world with his band Quicksilver, creating and playing music that ministered to and positively influenced millions of people. Though he is retired now, his music keeps working.

While always important, it seemed that in the later years of his career, Doyle added more gospel music to his repertoire. During my tyme as a radio DJ for a gospel music station in Broadway, Virginia, I happened upon one of those songs. It was an upbeat tune called "The Greatest Creator (of them all)”. Since my show was geared to glorifying God, I played the song when I could because it highlighted God’s creativity, and I found that listeners responded well to it.

On several occasions, when I was blessed to see him in concert, Doyle included the song in the set list, and his band had a good tyme performing it. In fact, their joy and silly antics made the song even more memorable and enjoyable to me. Still, having much experience with the song, I never really took it to heart until one day when I was working on my resume.

Compiling my resume is not an enjoyable task for me.  I tend to get down on myself and start questioning practically every choice I’ve ever made in my life. After a while of trying to highlight my abilities, I start wondering if I even have any abilities to highlight. Suffice it to write, my confidence does not often fare well in the resume building process. This day was no different and I desperately required a break from having to think about myself. I decided to take care of some dishes, so I headed to the kitchen – and yes, that’s correct, I would rather do dishes than work on my resume!

As I worked on my new task, I looked out the kitchen window, and saw a little sparrow perched on a decorative ladder near a clematis. What a beautiful picture! I quickly dried my hands and went to get my camera, but there was no way to get a clean capture of the sight. The window had a screen, and did not lend well to good pictures. The only other option was to go outside, but I knew opening the door would scare the bird away.  Birds are so flighty!

What’s a photographer to do? I went to the door anyway and looked through its small, diamond-shaped window. Surely there had to be a decent angle somewhere, but alas. With the door closed, the only possible line of sight to the sparrow was blocked by the lattice work on the porch. Even so, I was not about to let screens, closed doors, or lattice work stand in my way. I wanted a picture of the bird, and I intended to get one!

After a few attempts and some interesting maneuvering, I realized that, with concentrated effort and a steady hand, I was able to zoom through the lattice work to see the bird – the bird that surprisingly sat still and waited while I worked. Then, it happened. Click. A single click and I captured a moment in tyme, a beautiful moment and gift from God. When I looked down at the display on my camera, that Doyle Lawson song flooded my mind. “He’s the Greatest Creator of Them All”. It wasn’t the picture, however, that brought the song to mind; it was the ability God gave me when He created me.

While the picture was nice, I realized that the lens of my human-made camera could not begin to compare to my God-made eye. Even at a distance, I was able to see my point of focus in far more detail than my camera could capture. God created me with the ability to see, process and appreciate the beauty of the world around me. While my camera saw everything in the frame, I was able to single out one detail among billions. That which my camera had to zoom in and focus on, I saw in an instant, no tools or technology needed.

After getting the pictures I wanted, I went back to work on my resume, but this tyme I had a different and far more positive perspective on the task. I realized that God put the sparrow in my day to remind me of the gifts and talents He gave me. As a result, I soon finished my resume with confidence and a smile.

The fact is, it's easy to get bogged down with the opinions of the world around us. Especially with social media in the mix, there are many opportunities to compare ourselves to others and see what we don’t have and can’t do. The author of lies, that pesky devil, wants to find us in that state of mind and keep us there. Why? Because we are of little use to God when we are so focused on self. However, when we remember that God creates everyone with gifts, talents and abilities, including us, it takes the focus off what we can’t do and puts it on what He can.

Perhaps, like me, you feel like your resume is lacking. Or maybe it seems like other people have so many talents and gifts when you have few to none, but it’s not true. God created you with everything you need so you can accomplish what He has for you to do.

Psalm 139 is titled, “God’s Perfect Knowledge of Man”, and in it, David sings to God about how completely God understands him. He sings of God’s ability to know him because God formed him. In verse 14, Davids sings:

“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.”

David’s words are specific for each of us. We can each sing out to God and credit Him for the gifts, talents and abilities with which He has blessed us. My blessings may not look like yours and your blessings may not look like mine, but we are each blessed in God’s perfect way. He thought through every detail when He wove us together, including our every strength and weakness. (The apostle Paul writes about weaknesses in II Corinthians 12)

Have you ever truly thought about the fact that God made YOU and put YOU here with YOU in mind? He doesn’t have a fancy factory with lots of machines making parts for different models. No, each Master’s piece is handmade! You will never see another YOU, because for God, only YOU will do!

So, in this world of constant competition, we must be diligent to see what God sees and drop the need to succeed by society’s standards. The heavy burden of comparison can make us feel like we’re not good enough, but as a dear friend of mine often reminds me, we cannot go by feelings; we must go by God’s truth. God made each of us with a purpose, a purpose that is complete and completely unique. When God looks at you and at me, He sees what He designed, and He knows it is good … because …
He is The Greatest Creator of them All!

 

He made Noah to build an ark, and Columbus to sail the sea.
He made Leo for art, Moses to part and lead across the Red Sea
Amelia for flight, Austen to write, and Dolly with singing to do
And then He made me, the poet LD, to rhyme of His reason for YOU!  




His eye really is on the sparrow and I know He watches (and cares) for me and YOU!

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