Willing Masterpieces

     

Photo by Samuel Castro on Unsplash

   
      Artists are fascinating to watch.  For a while, their work doesn’t look very impressive.  Some strokes may seem misplaced, and the colors might look all wrong.  However, the more they work, the more the image begins to take form.  Sometimes, the artwork will get to a point where it still looks a little vague, but then the artist will do something simple – like adding a single stroke, turning on a back light, or flipping the canvas upside down – that changes everything.  Suddenly, the artist’s true talent and ultimate design are unveiled.  The audience is able to see what the artist had in mind all along.

       We are God’s masterpieces (Eph. 2:10), but we aren’t finished yet (Phil. 1:6).  Being a masterpiece in progress can be frustrating.  The strokes and colors that God adds to our lives might not be anything remotely like what we would have chosen.  When His choices don’t make sense to us, we wonder if we will end up like the big grayish-brown splotches that kids paint when they get too over-enthusiastic about mixing colors.  No one wants to be a grayish-brown splotch.

       In those times, we think that we know better.  Out of fear or pride, we try to take away the brush.  We want our will and our way in our time (Check out Pastor Eric’s message titled David Pt 4 from yesterday morning - it might not be posted until later this week).  Terrible messes result when we take matters into our own hands.  In Exodus 2, Moses saw the suffering of his people, and he took it upon himself to kill an Egyptian slave driver who was beating a fellow Hebrew.  His crime was revealed to Pharaoh, and he had to flee for his life.  Thankfully, God is very good at completing His ultimate design no matter what messes we manage to make.  God did eventually free the Israelites, and He even used Moses to do it, but it was in His will, His way, and His time.

       God calls us to willingly be His masterpieces – to bend our will and ways to His and wait for His time.  Some colors are dark, and some strokes are painful and confusing.  Godly character is not produced through ease.  However, we can trust that the Artist who paints the sunsets knows what He is doing, and that the end result will be good and beautiful when it is seen in its entirety.  Someday, we will be finished, and we will praise the Artist with a better and more complete understanding.  Until then, we praise Him and trust Him by faith even though we cannot yet see clearly.