A Work in Progress
I like to paint.
It’s a new hobby for me, and I’m no Picasso…but I’ve really enjoyed expressing myself in a new way lately. I’ve almost finished 3 paintings in the past week. I’ve also almost thrown away 3 paintings in the past week. By the third, I’d realized a trend….
I start painting with a vision in my mind…a grand idea of what this painting COULD be. Of what I WANT it to be. I am motivated and excited…until about half-way through.
Half-way through my neck starts to ache. My strokes become sloppier. My motivation is gone. That’s typically the time I step back, take a look at my half-finished painting and declare…
Or some other variation of the same sentiment. I called one “A MESS” the other “HORRIBLE”, and informed my husband that they could NOT be fixed. “What am I going to do?” I said. “I can’t give this to anyone! It looks terrible!”
“I never should have tried this”, I complained. “I’m not good at this! What was I thinking?!” and in utter despair, I threw a little pity party.
When I woke up, what I thought was a ‘disaster’ had dried. And to my surprise, it didn’t look half bad! The lines I thought needed to be ‘perfect’, actually looked cute with their imperfections. There were still some rough spots, but then I remembered what my friend Andi told me when I first took up painting…
Isn’t that just like God? He is the Artist, and we are His Masterpiece. What we deem a MESS half-way through, is really just a work in progress! And don’t forget, if we make a mistake, He can always paint over it…
That’s what He does. He REDEEMS the things we’ve messed up. Every little mistake adds to our character. It’s all a part of the finished Masterpiece!
If you’re feeling discouraged today, don’t throw your hands up and quit. Just remember, when things seem messy, you are just a work in progress!
Ericka,
Thank you for sharing. I totally needed this. I love how when we are struggling or going through something difficult, God uses brothers and sisters in Christ to show/tell us exactly what we need. 🙂 I hope you have a fabulous rest of the week.
Blessings,
Amanda
Hi Erika,
I hope you are having a super blessed day. I sent you an email last week regarding a young lady at auburn university interested in world racers. Did you receive the email?
Thanks! Tosha
Love this!!! Its gonna be so special!! Love you sweet sister!! 🙂
Oh, this one tugs at my heart. How many mistakes my Redeemer has had to paint over in my life! And He still chooses to use me in a ministry that’s the desire of my heart.
I’d also add that sometimes when the Artist has us go through a dark night of the soul, He can paint over that too, and give us beauty for ashes.
Love you, friend – Sue
At Sips and Strokes, here in Birmingham, the instructors walk you step by step through painting the picture of the night. At the end, everyone’s looks completely different. As you look around the room, you see so many that look better than yours, and all of a sudden your painting that you’ve been starring at for 3 hours looks…to use their term…”jacked up.”
But no matter how much I hate my painting when I leave there, I almost always end up liking it so much better the next day…after my mind has taken a break from it. (There was one that was REALLY bad though. Even after a week, I still hated the thing. :-))
Sometimes, we have to take a break from looking at our own imperfections and comparing ourselves to other people so that we can see the real beauty in what Christ has painted in our lives. No one’s perfect, and although sometimes things seem like a big huge mess, it sometimes takes a break from it all to realize that it might just be a huge blessing after all.
Sorry for the novella. But I’d been having the exact same thoughts this week after painting Thursday night. 🙂 Great minds, ya know?