Tag: painting

The Master Artist

Trusting the Process

God is the Master Artist turning my chaos into something beautiful.

I pray with great faith for you, because I’m fully convinced that the One who began this glorious work in you will faithfully continue the process of maturing you and will put His finishing touches to it until the unveiling of our Lord Jesus Christ! Philippians 1:6

I was meditating and praying about surrendering my will to God. Something that has never come naturally to me, because growing up I learned I couldn’t trust anyone. As I closed my eyes in consecration to God, I suddenly saw this picture in my mind of a white canvas sitting on an easel. But it wasn’t clean and untouched. Paint had been splattered all over it in every direction. Different colors everywhere. It looked messy, chaotic, and completely unorganized. The edges of the canvas were still white, but the middle was a mess. It looked ruined. Like nothing good could ever come from it. My first thought was that it should just be thrown away and started over.

Then I saw a Painter step up to the canvas. Not just any painter, but a Master Artist. He studied the mess closely and then began to work with it. He didn’t throw the canvas away. He didn’t cover it up or pretend the mess wasn’t there. He started shaping the paint already on the canvas. Adding shadows, highlights, texture, and definition. He brought order to what looked random and chaotic. It started becoming something new and intricate. What once looked ruined started becoming beautiful and valuable. By working through the mess already on the canvas, He was creating something new that nobody else could imagine.

That’s when it hit me. God is that Master Artist, and I am that canvas. The paint represents the mess I made of my life. The mistakes. The wrong choices. The regrets. The places where things feel broken, confusing, and out of place. When I look back over my life, sometimes all I see is the mess. My best thinking tells me to quit, give up, or throw the whole thing away. But God doesn’t see my life the way I do. He sees the finished picture. He sees what He had in mind from the very beginning. He is not discouraged by the mess I made, because He already sees the painting He wants to unveil.

I’m learning that surrender is trusting Him as the Artist even when I don’t understand the process. I don’t have to clean the canvas before bringing it to Him. I don’t have to know what the finished picture will be or even look like. I don’t have to figure out how all the colors will fit together. My part is simply to place my life in His hands and trust Him with it. Because God has a way of turning my mess into a masterpiece.

Prayer
Father, thank You for not giving up on me when my life looked like a mess. Help me to trust You with the things I still don’t understand. Teach me to surrender to You and trust what You are doing in me and with me. Amen

A Blank Canvas

What Will I Paint Today?

Today hasn’t happened yet. I get to choose how it unfolds.

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life… Deuteronomy 30:19

In my reading time this morning, I came across something that stuck with me. It said today is a day full of hours and minutes in which nothing has happened. I haven’t made any mistakes. I haven’t suffered any trouble. As I paused and meditated on those thoughts, I closed my eyes and saw a blank white canvas sitting on an easel, and I was the painter. The canvas was clean, open, and untouched. Just waiting for something to be painted on it. And I sensed God asking me, “What do you want to paint today?” That question felt bigger than I expected. It literally stopped me. At first my mind went blank, just like that canvas. Completely empty. I thought I have absolutely no idea what to paint. Am I even qualified to make such a big decision?

Then it hit me. This is my life. What do I want to see in it today? No wonder I used to feel like a victim. I wasn’t choosing anything. I was reacting to whatever came at me. The day painted itself, and I was just along for the ride. That’s what made life feel unmanageable and out of control. But today is different. I actually do get to choose what goes on this canvas. I get to choose the colors. I can paint peace or panic. Patience or frustration. I can reach for the same old colors like fear, resentment, and avoidance, or I can try something different like gratitude, honesty, and pausing before I react. Some days it feels easier to grab the familiar colors. They may not look good, but I know how to use them. But recovery is teaching me I don’t have to default to them anymore.

What feels new to me is that God is even asking me that question in the first place. What do you want to paint? I never used to think that way. I used to think everything was already decided. Like I didn’t really have a choice. Life just happened to me and I had to deal with it. That kind of thinking kept me stuck. It kept me reacting instead of choosing. But recovery has shown me something different. I do have choices. God has shown me that I have a say in what my life looks like today. The rest of my life is a blank canvas that has not been painted yet. It has not yet been determined. I get to choose how I respond. I get to choose which direction to go. And I get to do that without guilt. Realizing that is freedom. And that is the gift of recovery for me.

Prayer
Father, thank You for showing me that I have a choice. That You have given me that freedom. Help me slow down and choose wisely. Lead me and guide me each step of the way. Amen.