Let go of the Brush

I have to make a confession, growing up I loved watching Bob Ross paint.  For those of you who don’t know who he is, he is the guy with the huge afro who loves to paint “happy little trees”.  I am about the furthest from an artsy person you will ever meet, but there was something about him taking a blank canvas and turning it into a gorgeous mountain scene in just 30 minutes that would just draw me and my sister (if she would admit it) in.  Watching his show was interesting because just looking at his canvas as he painted, you would have no idea what he was painting.  It wasn’t until he got just about finished that you would be able to tell what his masterpiece was going to look like.  Even when he messed up a little he would simply say something like, “let’s just turn that into a little fluffy cloud”.  Even though the audience didn’t necessarily know what he was painting, he always knew what it was going to look like.

Just like Bob’s paintings, our lives are God’s masterpiece.  He knows exactly what he has intended the end to look like from the very beginning. He designed us exactly the way he wanted us to be. “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.  Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!  Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.  You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.  You saw me before I was born.  Every day of my life was recorded in your book.  Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” Psalm 139:13-16 NLT.

God did create us with a purpose, but we must yield to His will to truly fulfill that purpose.  “But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?” Romans 9:20-21 NIV.  Just like a painting should never grab hold of the brush, thinking it can do a better job than a talented painter, we need to stop second guessing God every time we think God should be using blue when he is using grey.  Even a beautiful masterpiece looks a little ugly before the real beauty comes out.  God will take the ugliest paint spots and turn them into something beautiful, if we simply allow him to.  However, if we decide to turn away and do things our way, those ugly spots may dry as ugly and then we will wonder why we are not enjoying our lives.

Fortunately, no matter how badly we might mess up God’s masterpiece, if we turn back and allow him to take control, God will take those ugly spots and make them something beautiful to use for his purpose.  “He will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair.” Isaiah 61:3 NLT.  So let go of the brush, let God create a masterpiece in you.  Don’t get frustrated if you can’t see the beauty just yet.  Keep trusting, praying, seeking, and yielding to God.  No matter your situation, do what you can exactly where you are, let God do the rest.