When an artist has a vision of what they want to create, they take a blank canvas and start the process by making strokes and then moving on to colors and so on. If a person who is unaware of the artist’s vision or does not understand that vision, comes in midway, then the painting might not make much sense to that untrained mind. Sometimes, even if that person has a glimpse of where the artist is going, it might be difficult to understand how he would get there with what they currently see on the canvas, but ultimately the artist gets to his endpoint and his vision is seen clearly to everybody.

I believe this is the way God works with us. He has a clear vision about what He wants to create and sometimes when He starts out His painting, it might not make sense midway.

For some of us, our canvas has been filled with all sorts of colors and strokes of life experiences and circumstances, that for God to create the ideal painting he wants to draw, He must first of all shake off and clean off what he did not put on our canvas. This process is the hardest because He comes with rags, solutions and all sorts of supplies to start scrubbing away at our canvas. The friction that comes from the rubbing and shaking away can be so painful that some of us want to run away, hide or stop that process. We think God must hate us or life must be so wicked that we have to face this kind of scrubbing but if we become sensitive in our spirit and the eyes of our mind become enlightened, we can see exactly what is going on and we submit to the process.

For some of us, we have been given a glimpse of what the Master artist is trying to create but because the painting is still midway, we keep saying this does not make sense, we yield to fear and doubt and begin to wonder did God really show us that vision or did He really say He was going to do this with us. Some of us lose it at this point, and start trying to look for ways to create our own drawings because we are not trained to see the mind of the artist midway.

However I think as children of God, our answer is found in God’s declaration of the thoughts and plans He has for us, thoughts of good and not of evil, thoughts to prosper us and not harm us, plans to bring us to an expected end! He had a picture in mind before we were even formed or conceived and He has one goal in mind; to bring us to that expected end.

Where we make the mistake is losing our trust and confidence while the painting is still midway, when we are in the “in-between” where we can feel like the drawing is underway but it is taking too long to complete, or where God is scrubbing out what He did not paint on that canvas and the friction and pressure feels too much for us.

We then take our canvas out of God’s hands and run after all sorts to fill it up, we may even achieve a certain kind of painting that looks good to people but beneath it all, we have a huge void and unfulfillment that we try to cover up. We may have beautiful colors (houses, cars, money etc) but we do not have peace or joy, we think the more we paint our canvas, the better our chances of reaching this fulfillment. However, the more we try, the wider and deeper the void.

The reason for this is very simple, we did not form or create ourselves, we were created by God for a purpose. I think if we really understand that no one sets about creating something without a reason, how much more God, then we will begin to ask Him, why we were created.

To think we have no purpose is to think we are random, to think we are random is to think God is haphazard. To think God is haphazard is to think He is a forgetful old man. I think that is an insult.

As long as the colors on our canvas do not fit the drawing God intended when He created us, we cannot attain fulfillment.

It really is that simple.

A knife is created for cutting, if you use it to fish, that knife can never know the satisfaction of functioning in the reality of why it was created.

A lot of us are running all over the place with this void and unhappiness simply because deep down our soul knows we are not functioning in alignment with our purpose.

How then do we know our purpose? I believe the answer is found in seeking God and in taking time to unravel ourselves. God is the Master artist and He is in the best position to tell us what kind of picture He wants to create. Also, by taking time to become intimate with ourselves, we begin to understand who we are beneath the surface, we learn about our gifts, talents and interests.

We soon find out the difference between our calling and our interests and where they intersect and we can start to yield our canvas to the painter. A lot of us spend more time trying to understand and figure out other people, while avoiding going beneath our surface to discover our depths.

What we need is to spend time with God asking for a revelation of Him, as understanding God also helps us understand ourselves, the being He created in His image and likeness.

When we begin to see our lives as God sees it, and we understand where He is taking us to, then we are able to hold fast to the truth that there is an expected end even during the process of being scrubbed and cleaned out, during the period of being in the in-between where nothing makes sense. We are able to remain diligent and yield to a life of living intentionally and walking in purpose.

It is not always easy to align with what God wants from us especially when we do not really understand it but this is what I know, whatever picture God has in mind for us, it can only be exceedingly abundantly above what we can think or imagine for ourselves.

So why not take that higher picture?

Blessings…