If I’m honest, I used to keep many of my ideas to myself. I worried they were too different or simply not good enough. Over time, God has been teaching me that creativity begins with trust. I’ve learned to share what he places on my heart—not because every idea is the right one, but because discernment begins when we’re willing to offer it. No dream is too big for God, and sometimes the idea we’re hesitant to share is the one God wants to use.

That lesson has changed the way I read one of my favourite passages in Scripture: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:18-19).

These words are both a promise and an invitation. At first glance, they may sound like God is asking his people to forget the past. But God is not dismissing his faithfulness. He reminds his people that his faithfulness cannot be confined to what he has already done. The God who moved yesterday is still moving today.

The question is not whether God is doing something new. The question is whether we have the eyes to perceive it.

The Creativity of God

From the beginning of Scripture, we encounter God as Creator: “In the beginning, God created...” (Genesis 1:1). Creation reveals something essential about who God is. He speaks light into darkness, brings order out of chaos and creates life where there appears to be none. God does not simply respond to brokenness—he creates possibilities where none existed.

As people created in the image of God, we carry creativity as a gift. Creativity is not reserved for artists, musicians or those with particular talents. It is the God-given ability to imagine, dream, build and participate in what God is already doing.

But creativity is more than producing something new. It is a spiritual posture of seeing beyond what is immediately visible. It is the ability to see hope in hopeless situations and potential where others see limitations. It is looking beyond our human perspective and limited understanding of what is right in front of us and asking: What could God do here?

Creativity allows us to see with kingdom eyes.

New Wine Requires New Wineskins

Jesus continued this theme when he said: “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins” (Mark 2:22 NLT).

The problem is not the old wineskin. It served its purpose. But new wine requires new capacity. Something living and expanding cannot be contained by something no longer able to stretch. This is a kingdom principle.

We often pray for revival while expecting it to fit within yesterday’s structures. Yet Jesus reminds us that new wine requires new wineskins. A fresh outpouring of God’s Spirit deserves the capacity to receive it, nurture it and carry it forward.

If we are praying for God to do a new thing, we must also be willing to surrender whatever prevents us from faithfully stewarding it.

A Movement Born Through Holy Imagination

This has always been part of The Salvation Army’s story. William and Catherine Booth did not simply preserve the expression of church they inherited. They looked at the realities of their generation and asked different questions: Where are the people? How can they encounter Jesus? What barriers are preventing them from hearing the gospel?

Their response was creative and courageous. They preached in streets, theatres and public squares. They used brass bands, uniforms, military language and creative forms of evangelism. They developed shelters, rescue homes and ministries that addressed both spiritual and physical needs.

Their creativity was not about novelty. It was about mission. The methods were shaped by their cultural moment, but the mission remained the same.

The Booths understood something that every generation must remember, that methods are servants of the mission. They were never meant to become the mission itself.

A Kingdom Mindset

Perhaps the greatest challenge for us is not whether we honour our history, but whether we carry the same spirit that shaped it. A kingdom mindset thinks beyond the present. It asks: Are the decisions we make preparing the way for future generations to encounter Jesus? Are the ways we express our faith forming disciples who will faithfully carry the gospel? Are we protecting what is familiar, or are we participating in what God is creating?

Every ministry decision is an investment. The way we disciple today shapes the church of tomorrow. The way we welcome people today influences generations we may never meet.

God’s kingdom has always been bigger than our current moment. No dream is too big for God.

Throughout Scripture, God has worked through people who were willing to imagine what others could not yet see—not because they trusted their own ideas, but because they trusted the God who makes all things new.

A Call to Imagine Again

The Salvation Army was born from holy imagination. It began with people who believed God could do something new in their generation. They stepped beyond what was familiar—not because they valued the past less, but because they valued God’s mission more. Perhaps God is inviting us to examine our own hearts.

Have we become so focused on what God has done that we struggle to perceive what he is doing? Are we making decisions for today’s comfort, or are we investing in God’s kingdom for generations to come?

God is still doing a new thing. May we have the courage to perceive it. May we have the faith to imagine it. And may we have the obedience to join him in creating what only he can bring to life.

Because creativity is not a distraction from mission. It is one of the ways we share God’s heart, participate in his kingdom work and build what brings glory to his name.

Lieutenant Mirna Dirani is the resource officer at immigrant and refugee services at Toronto Harbour Light Ministries.

Illustration: Rivonny Luchas