Yesterday I had this random idea of piling up my car with paint supplies, canvases, and my guitar. My friend Krystyn was visiting from the U.A.E. and we were just wanting to get out in the beautiful mountains and seaside of Oman. I thought to myself... "What better of a way to worship God than out in the open in the sand, by the beach, and overlooking the mountains. So that's just what we did. We took all the colors, canvases, and my guitar about one hour south of Muscat. I can't explain the beauty of the mountains by the seaside as we made our way to our destination. There are times when I'm driving in Oman and I take a deep breath and just praise the Lord that He has placed me in such a beautiful country with such beautiful people. For the first time in a very long time, I feel absolutely happy with where I am at. I really do love this country and all that it has to offer. So with that said, we took all of our supplies and began our drive. I have to say that it felt good having my friend here. Although I have made amazing friends here in Muscat, nothing can compare to my kindred sister Krystyn. She's my worship & prayer sister. It's like when you have two fires in separate locations they are bright and burn but when the two fires come together, they burn even brighter and you have an even bigger fire. That's our kindred heart coming together. :-) We worshipped all the way on the journey. Once we got there, we scoped out the location for a good place to set up shop. We walked and scoped the beach and checked out the people. We found a perfect spot in the open but not to be disturbing to others. We set out our mat, paints, canvases, and began to worship. We sat out there on the beach and just began to sing and play the guitar. Something about singing freely and in spirit & truth began to ring upon the waves. The freedom that I felt worshiping my Lord on the beach was astounding. We sat on our mat and worshiped and praised, while painting and drawing the Heart of Abba Father over Oman. I do have to say that we did get attention. A man came up to us to watch his stuff while his friends and him went for a swim. I felt like God saying... "Just be you." "Be who I made you to be." So despite the people passing by, stopping to see what we were doing, we just began to worship freely. I felt as if we were bringing Heaven down. I began to sing my heart over the beach. The power of praise draws hearts into the Presence, I feel this is what was happening. There was a man who lied down next to us to rest. He stayed there the whole time listening to us, with his eyes closed. He didn't move until we took up our mats to leave. I could tell he was full of peace. Then there were the two Omani men who came up to Krystyn and I. They were very curious to see what we were doing. We began to speak to them about how we feel about Oman and the beauty of their country and people. They were drawn to our song and drawn to the paining of the mountains that I was working on. I could just see the look of curiosity on their faces and the look of awe how we spoke about the love of their country. They seemed genuinely touched. One of the guys took out his photo and wanted to snap a few shots of our worship. So we just continued on like they weren't there while he captured the moment. As they walked away, I began to feel what God was saying to me. I felt as if God was saying... "You don't have to go out looking for people to love. All you have to do is just go out and be you. Be you and worship me. I will draw people to you through being you." There were others who stopped to see what we were working on and other's who came to us but these specific two guys stuck in my heart and mind. I think God is showing me the power of creativity in worship. Too many times we keep our creativity and gifts inside walls, whether that's walls of your home or walls of the church, it doesn't really matter. I believe Abba is speaking about bringing this creativity into the very heart of the open. There's something that I felt the other day on the beach, that I have never felt before. It's all about open spaces. When we use our giftings in the open, we not only bring the Kingdom of Heaven down to us but we bring it down to others who may not have experienced this creativity before. Our worship should not be contained but lived out in the open. I believe Abba is saying "Be you and worship me in open spaces. I will bring them into the Presence."
So if your reading this and if you have ever had a thought of bringing your creativity to life in open spaces... get out there and bring Heaven down not just for you but for the world. Get out there and just be you and worship Him. You don't have to do a thing, but just love on Him. He will do the rest.
