Ever noticed, the most remarkable character trait of Jesus when you read the gospels was that He was never in a hurry? He learned to abide and reaped the blessings of an unhurried life. The pressing crowds with their so many needs, the disciples with their endless questions, and the pressure from the Pharisee’s constant tests and questions of what Jesus was doing, who He was, and why was He doing it, never once squeezed out the quiet, unhurried times Jesus spent with His Father. So why is this character trait Jesus modelled, of filling His cup, again and again, so important in our ministry as Christian artists? 

Over the past few months, I’ve been sitting in the vineyard of John chapter 15 in my morning quiet time with God. For me, the practice of learning to abide was a habit I needed to harness in my Christian walk. Taking my cue from Jesus, as He demonstrated how to abide throughout His three-year ministry, He filled His cup over and over again, as He prepared to ‘pour Himself out’ completely for us. 

‘I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.’  John 15: 1-4  [NKJV]

Notice in this short passage the word abide is written no less than 3 times. To abide is something God wants us to practice, otherwise, all our pouring out and not filling ourselves back up again with the blessings of an unhurried life can become dangerous to our creative souls, as the lure of needing to be needed becomes a drug to which we become extremely addicted and dependent. I know, because am a recovering ‘pouring out and not filling my cup back up’ addict who has learned the hard way of not abiding in the Vine. 

Running on empty, living off the dregs of my desperate need to be needed, pouring myself out again and again, feeling the high from the fumes of inhaling the sense of significance becomes highly addictive when you’ve felt so insignificant for most of your life.

This lifestyle leads to burnout, and it’s not a tee shirt I can say that I’m proud to wear. This is why when you ask me what Scripture are you currently reading in your Bible, Wendy? I’ll tell you, I’ve settled in the vineyard of John chapter 15. Because we are only the branches, and branches need to learn to abide in the Vine. If we want to bear fruit and fruit that will last, then this metaphor becomes so important in our understanding of how the creative process works. 

Back in April of this year, I turned 50, and my good friend and publisher gifted me with a Parker pen. She felt, as my last name is Parker, I, of course, needed a fancy pen bearing the same name. But my friend also knew I had been sitting and adjusting myself in the vineyard of John chapter 15 for many months and she knew the sometimes painful process I had journeyed of surrendering and learning to abide in the Vine was a process that taught me many things. 

So, she had one word engraved on the Parker pen. ‘ABIDE’  to remind me to do just that. 

I feel creating something from concept to product, mirrors the process grapes go through to produce, quality wine. And I want to ask you dear friend, where do you find yourself in the process of creativity in this present season? 

Are you a tender young plant whose creative journey has only just begun? Sure, you may have no fruit to show at present, but the tiny buds on your branch and the small leaves are unfolding and beginning to turn green. 

Or perhaps you’re flowering and flourishing in your creative projects. You feel the warmth of the summer season, as your grapes blossom and start to take shape and form. 

Maybe your branch is beginning to grow fruit and your creative ideas are starting to get noticed by others.  

Or are you at the stage where the fruit of your creativity has become ripe and your completed project has been selected and picked by an agent, publisher or someone who can help you move onto the next phase?

 Wherever you find yourself in the creative process, take comfort in knowing grapes need to go through a process to produce good, quality wine. The process a grape goes through includes: 

Crushing

Pressing

Clarifying 

And Amending

Oh, and did I mention pruning is essential for branches to produce good fruit? Hmmm, the creative process doesn’t sound so glamorous now, right?! However, this is why, as artists, we must stay connected to the true Vine. 

Learning to abide in God brings the blessings of an unhurried life. For me, abiding in the Vine has built a strength in me to help me through the places where I’ve felt crushed because I haven’t received constructive feedback about my creative project. Or no support that has left me feeling flat rather than flourishing. Places where I have felt the pressure because I had chapters, word counts, and deadlines squeezing and extracting the juices from my creative thoughts as I tried to produce fruitful words that would help others in my books. 

The places where my writing needed to be clarified, were where I was analysing, clearing up, perhaps simplifying, and defining what it was I was trying to say. The places where I needed to fix, reform, change and amend what I’d written. These were the places where I found myself again and again in John chapter 15 because I needed to learn to ABIDE in the Vine so I could walk in the blessings of an unhurried life. 

‘Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.’ John reminds us in his Gospel account.

We need to remind ourselves that we are the branches and not the Vine. Branches rest and abide in the Vine to produce their fruit. The danger for writers is we can make an idol out of creativity. Bringing our preconceived ideas as to what the process should look like. Comparing ourselves to other branches that seem to bear more fruit. This is where the importance of knowing which season you are in helps grow and sustain your fruit. 

For our enemy knows in the painful waiting part of our creative journey toward something we’ve longed, hoped, and dreamed for are the places where we can become unravelled. With our endless questions, nagging doubts, and need for control, we tend to put on our war paint for the battle ahead and charge toward resourceful thinking, doing things in our strength, and getting lost in a smoke screen of confusion and fake fine.  

We focus on the finished product because we so desperately try to get our ‘wine’ [which is our creative project], on shelves so consumers can buy and enjoy. Hear me out; there is nothing wrong with that in and of itself. However, the best wines, the ones that are the most valuable, have learned to abide by the Vine so they are more about quality rather than quantity. 

It’s the longevity of your creative journey that is important. Learn to abide in the Vine, as we sit and wait patiently in the vineyard of John chapter 15, which teaches us to rest, recover, and allow God, the true Vine, to fill our cups, again and again, so we can bear fruit. But more importantly, fruit that will last.

‘I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.’

Abiding in the love of God, and dwelling in the Vine is important if we want the blessings of an unhurried life. So, if you’re feeling the squeeze, learn to sit and rest awhile in the Vineyard of John chapter 15. Pause, reflect, recover and learn to abide in the Vine.

Wendy xo

Where are the places you’ve felt crushed and pressed in the process of creating something? How have you learned to abide in the Vine?