Sculpture or Painting?
I was thinking about how the Lord shapes our lives, crafting His kids' experiences to point us in one direction or another or to help us grow straight and true. I found myself musing over how that process is His creative act, with my life and that of everyone I interact with as His medium. I know it's an imperfect metaphor, but stay with me.
There are times when I sense God's hand shaping me and very often it feels like a God-sized chisel and mallet swinging down to form my character, my family and church, and all my surroundings. But I recognize that this simply cannot be the swing of His arm crashing down on my life or I'd be utterly destroyed.
As I mused on, it became clear to me that the hammer blows are really just the gentle swish of His paintbrush toning my life, repainting certain bits, adding a new layer of color, touching up a detail here and there. Why would I not be delighted to bathe in lavender, be covered with green or awash in orange? Up close they only seem to be blobs of colored pigment, but to an artist they form a picture to express the heart.
When I think of myself as a block of stone being hammered and chiseled and sanded and smoothed, I tense up, awaiting the next blow, but when I picture God as the Artist repainting my life, I find it easier to trust Him.
"He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3:11
I believe this beautiful work of art is both a sculpture and a painting of who we are to God. We are in the process of being touched up, chiseled, sanded and smoothed in the Maker’s hand as we are all like a unique pieces of artwork to Him, unique and beautiful. He has been giving us lots of attention, and he pays attention to the details about us. We are all work of art in progress being molded, fashioned and painted into the likeness of His Son Jesus. Your inspiring painting and message reminds us how beautiful we are in God’s eyes. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I thank God for that process of sanctification, even though sometimes it's painful or puzzling.
ReplyDeleteI should mention that the painting is actually a snippet of a larger piece, meant to illustrate how at close range things can be beautiful, even when we don't see the whole picture. I'm glad you saw and understood that. Thanks.