The Courage to Create When the World Resists You

Faith is not always loud. Sometimes it is carved slowly, patiently, against resistance, much like stone under a sculptor’s hands.

Selma Hortense Burke lived in a time when the world placed firm limits on who was allowed to create, to lead, and to be remembered. Yet she pressed forward, guided by a deep inner conviction that her gift was not accidental. It was God-given.

Imagine the courage required to believe in your calling when doors remain closed, recognition is delayed, and your work is questioned not because of its quality, but because of who you are. Selma Burke faced these realities with a faith that did not demand applause. She trusted that obedience mattered more than approval.

Her life reminds us that vocation is sacred. When God places vision in our hands, He also gives us the strength to endure the chiseling—long seasons of invisibility, financial uncertainty, and outright dismissal. Burke did not abandon her calling when it became difficult. She refined it. She persisted. She prayed. She worked.

In Graven Images, her story stands as a testament to courage rooted in faith: the kind that continues creating even when credit is denied, the kind that keeps shaping beauty while history looks the other way. Burke understood that her work was larger than personal recognition. It was testimony.

We often think courage means standing boldly in the spotlight. Selma Burke teaches us that courage can also look like quiet consistency, showing up, believing God sees what others do not, and trusting that faithfulness will speak in time.

If you are carrying a calling that feels heavy or unseen, take heart. Selma Burke’s life whispers a powerful truth: God honors the work done in faith, even when the world is slow to catch up.

And in the end, what is shaped by faithful hands endures far longer than applause ever could.