The Master Artist

Imagine someone desiring to learn the art of painting portraits. Imagine they go to watch a master artist at work. The artist takes a blank canvas and begins to cover it in paint. Imagine the student growing impatient. “When will it look like a person?” the student asks. “Just wait,” the artist replies as he continues his work adding a few shades of paint here and more there. He sketches a vague outline. “This doesn’t look like anything special,” the student says in frustration. “Just wait,” the artist replies again.” Imagine the frustrated student gives up, walks away while stating, “I’m not waiting any longer.” Imagine the artist was Leonardo Da Vinci and the painting was the Mona Lisa.

Waiting is one of the hardest things for the human to master. We want things now. For the Christian it’s no different. We know the promises of God. We know He said He has plans for us, good plans to give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). We are delighted with such promises, but like the student painter, we grow restless. “When will plans be revealed to me?” we ask our Father. “Just wait,” comes His reply. He goes on to say, “Be of good courage and I will strengthen your heart” (Psalm 27:14). Hopefully, for our own good, and to have God’s own joy alive in our being, to rest in His peace, and to face each day with His courage, we will wait. As the old hymn says, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.”

We don’t have to wait. We can go our own way and perhaps find some level of joy and satisfaction in life. We can find success and feel an amount of peace inside. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there, we mull over the matter in our questioning minds. Yes, we have the right to go our own way, but we must think carefully before putting God’s plans aside. Since our loving Heavenly Father is our Master Artist, designing the best portrait of our lives, let us wait through the hard and unwanted times, the dull and mundane days, the scary and heartbreaking moments, for in every stroke, He is painting a masterpiece to the glory of His Son and to the greatest of joy for you and me.

It’s true we don’t have to wait for who knows how long — but we’ll miss the Mona Lisa.