I was driving home from Bible study last night, arguing with
God in my head about how insufficient I feel for some of the things He’s laid
on my heart to do when I was reminded of a situation that occurred a few years
ago. As a former student in the gifted program in school and the parent of a
gifted student I was asked to serve on the advisory committee for the gifted
program. At our first meeting, all of the committee members introduced
themselves, and it happened that I was among the last to introduce myself.
After hearing introductions from teachers, school board members and others
involved in education, what came out of my mouth was “My name is Jeannie, and I’m
nobody”.
How often do we feel that way in other areas of our life? We
look around us and see people that are more successful, make more money, are
more patient, more loving, more educated… Whatever area it is we feel we lack
in, it’s easy to spot someone that doesn’t and wish that we were them. It’s
easy to ask God why He didn’t give us this gift or that gift and overlook the
abundance of gifts that He has bestowed upon us. It’s easy to label ourselves a
nobody and ignore the masterpiece that our loving Father made of us.
We look at the canvas of our lives and see areas that need
retouching, or splotches of paint that don’t make sense. We look at God’s work
of art in progress, and fail to see the beauty He’s creating. I used to love
watching Bob Ross paint. One of the things I heard him say over and over was that
there were no mistakes in painting. Only happy accidents. If he dripped paint
on the canvas, he’d turn it into a tree, or a bird or something that in the end
looked as if he had planned for it to be there all along.
God, our master
painter, makes no mistakes or accidents. What looks like paint that fell off of
a too full brush, be it divorce, death of a loved one, loss of a job or any of
a number of things that we think shouldn’t have happened, is in actuality just
the beginning of a new part of His masterpiece.
We are a living canvas, and God is at work in us and around
us, bringing beauty to life. If we look too long at the paint splotch and fail
to see what He’s creating, we lose out on so much peace and joy in life. Yes,
life is hard. You will not ever hear me say it’s peachy and life serving Christ
is never painful. But our God is the master at taking those moments that seem
wrong, and turning them into a beauty beyond what we could ever imagine. Even
when the canvas fights back, He lovingly takes His brush and recreates the
design He had in mind for us. So, when you feel as if He made a mistake, stop
looking at the splotch, and instead look for what He’s going to make out of it.
Don’t be afraid to dream big. And if you feel He’s laid on
your heart to do something you feel ill-equipped for, remember that whatever He
calls you to, He will equip you for. In my flesh, I look at my desire to be a
marriage and family counselor (that I wholeheartedly believe comes straight
from God) and wonder who would want advice and encouragement from a divorced
woman. A woman that couldn’t help her own marriage survive. I look at my desire
to write a book that can help encourage people. Me… an author? Who am I that
anyone would buy my book? But then I think of Moses. A man who felt inadequate
for the job God called him to. He offered up excuse after excuse, but when it
came down to it, he was able to do what God commanded, because God Himself was
with him and gave him what was necessary to fulfill his calling. He will do the
same with me. He’ll do the same with you. Dream those Godly dreams and then
watch as God fulfills them in your life. But never forget where the power came
from, and praise His name continually!
