Pushing Past Obstacles To Create Beautiful Things

Last updated on: December 11, 2015 at 5:47 pm by Brandon Mark Showalter

Pushing Past Obstacles To Create Beautiful Things 2015-12-11T17:47:53-04:00 Brandon Mark Showalter

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Thought I would give you all a window into my songwriting journey today here on Tip of the Spear. A song that Holy Spirit inspires has the power to destroy yokes off of people’s lives and release them from burdens they were never meant to carry. That’s what I pray for as I write music. And it requires relationship with Him to bring such an anthem to fruition; songs pierce the darkness like nothing else.

Often the most beautiful things we creative-types make occur during seasons of disappointment, distress, or heartbreak. When I made my debut project, an extended play called Song of Psalms, it was a trying season. My second year of Bible school was stretching me and, let me assure you, there was nothing romantic about it. I hung onto the words of Paul in Romans 8:18 in this season, and suffering does produce character. Although I was enduring nothing of the sort the apostle Paul was, his words did give me some measure of hope to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Late at night, after my roommates had gone to bed, I would sit on the couch and pray fervently, longing to encounter God and find some peace. I have since learned to find my peace first, then pray. Makes a huge difference.

I had almost no money, no job prospects, the ones I applied for were not hiring and were not calling me back, no car, and I was living in a poor, drug-infested neighborhood. The year was not going how I had hoped or envisioned and God was purifying me of some offensive, cynical attitudes. Additionally there were some other painful circumstances in my life that for the sake of time I will spare you the details, but suffice it to say, it was the pits.

What I did have was my creativity, dreams burning in my heart, and prophetic words from the Lord about future endeavors. I would call these words to memory when I was feeling blue. I figured that because I had those promises, the grace to accomplish them was also there and the fact that my circumstances were less than ideal was no excuse.

So I began the process of doing something I’d never done before, independently writing and producing my very first project as a recording artist. During that time I told several people I had absolutely no idea what I was I doing but I refused let my ignorance keep me from the dream. I came up with an idea for an EP and a few days later I sensed God give me the name of the album as I was praying about it. I made an outline, set a list of goals on a timeline, held myself accountable to it, and followed through. It was a very rough process and there were times when I wanted to throw the towel in and just stop fighting through it. But because I knew I was called to it and the dream would not die, I made a promise with myself and to God that I would finish what I started no matter how many snafus I ran into—and there were plenty of those, including a few ‘I am going-to-scream-and-tear-my-hair-out’ moments.

I have heard it said that passion gives pain a purpose. It’s true. I don’t like pain (who does?) and I don’t cry cute. Yet I realized that if I never pushed past the hassles and obstacles that stood in my way, the dreams that had been stirring in my heart for years were going to die a slow agonizing death and I had too much fire in my gut to accept that. As I persisted, the pain also became more manageable. In fact, I am working on a second album now and the process is much easier even as certain trying circumstances have remained. What took many hours to push through now takes considerably less time.

So to the musicians and creative-types out there, when the pain and frustration shows up it is not meant to paralyze you but is itself an invitation for you to persevere and produce something beautiful.
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Photo Credit: Freeimages.com

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