[This post is adapted from devotions I shared with the arts campers in June.]
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations. (Psalm 100 NIV)
When I was leading devotions at arts camp last month, I shared with the students the story of my dad’s unexpected graduation to heaven last December. For me, that loss was a significant storm in my life. Without the support of family, friends, and our church community, my “ship” of life might have felt like it was tipping over. I didn’t share all of the details with the campers, but I wanted to give them—and perhaps you, too—some practical tools to help keep the ship of life steady when storms come.
The good news is that God is present in the middle of our storms. He promises that no matter what we face, He will faithfully love us, walk with us, and give us hope. For me, that hope came through some very real gifts from God. These gifts weren’t just for me; they are gifts He offers to each of us.
The first gift God gives us is Praise and Worship. During the six-hour drive to my mom’s house after my dad died, I played a Spotify playlist of worship songs and sang—and cried—almost the entire way. Worship helped me remember that even in my grief, God was still good, still present, and still worthy of my praise.
During the week after my dad’s death, I also leaned deeply into three gifts that often go together for me: Prayer, the Bible, and Journaling. I knew I needed to immerse myself in God’s Word because, without Him, the sadness could have easily overwhelmed me. Writing down my thoughts, memories, and prayers—and spending time studying Scripture—helped me process my grief and drew me closer to God.
Another gift God gives us is Thanksgiving. If we only think about gratitude while sitting around a Thanksgiving dinner table in November, we miss the powerful work God can do through a grateful heart. There is something transformative about coming before Him with humility and thankfulness.
After my dad died, I had so much to be thankful for. I was thankful that I had taken my boys to visit him just six weeks earlier. I was thankful that his death was quick and that he did not suffer. I was thankful for church families, friends, and relatives who surrounded us with love and prayer. But most of all, I was thankful that I did not have to wonder where my dad would spend eternity.
These are five gifts God gives to each of us—spiritual disciplines that help us navigate life:
Bible • Prayer • Praise & Worship • Thanksgiving • Journaling
When we practice these regularly, they strengthen our faith, deepen our relationship with Jesus, and prepare us to face life’s storms with hope.
And you know what else is a gift? Our artistic interests and talents.
When I say “arts,” I don’t only mean drawing and painting. I mean singing, playing an instrument, drama, dance, photography, graphic design, speaking, filmmaking, and all kinds of creative expression that bring beauty and joy into the world.
I have drawn pictures that expressed feelings I couldn’t put into words. I have sat at the piano and poured my emotions into the keys. Your art may look different than mine, but it is still a gift from God.
When you combine your creative gifts with these spiritual disciplines, something beautiful happens. You begin to express what God is doing in your heart and share His goodness with others.
Someone recently told me that Christians who regularly practice these disciplines often become more peaceful, wiser, and even healthier. Scientists have discovered that our brains create pathways based on what we repeatedly do. Think about walking across a grassy field. If you walk the same path again and again, eventually the grass wears away and a trail appears.
Our minds work in a similar way. If we constantly complain, blame others, hold onto anger, or become bitter toward God, those patterns create deep ruts in our thinking. But when we regularly spend time in God’s Word, pray, give thanks, worship, and sing, we create different pathways—healthy pathways. Those “ruts” help shape us into people who are more peaceful, wise, and strong. Like ballast in the bottom of a ship, when the storms of life threaten to overwhelm us, the “ruts” of our spiritual disciplines keep us from wrecking.
So if you want gifts from God that you can carry with you wherever life takes you, invest your time and energy in these practices:
Bible • Prayer • Praise & Worship • Thanksgiving • Journaling • ART
These are gifts God gives us—not only to survive the storms of life, but to know Him more deeply and share His beauty with the world around us.
Faithful God,
Thank you for being our shelter, anchor, and refuge in the storms of life. Thank you for the gifts of your Word, our prayer, praise and worship, thanksgiving, writing and journaling, and all the various artistic expressions that help us to process life and stay close to you. Help us to use these things daily so that we develop “ruts” in our minds and become more spiritually, emotionally, and physically healthy. Help us to trust you in the storms of life and lean into these gifts you have given us. We pray this in Jesus’s name, AMEN.