Tapestry of Grace

"Our lives a tapestry of grace

Your hand has weaved together

In You no thread will ever fray

This hope is ours forever

Your work of art a mystery

Beyond all earthly measure

Your love for us a masterpiece

Jesus our hope always."- Hillsong United

     I love art and all its forms.  I love painting and drawing. I can remember sitting in my third grade art class wanting to be an artist.  I remember the art class I took at OU in college, and the professor commenting that I should become an artist.  (Unfortunately for me, that was not what I had mapped on my degree plan at the time.)  I love drama and the theater.  I loved getting up on stage and making others' laugh at my antics.  I still get to use that side everyday when I read stories to my kindergarten class.  I love dance, taking ballet, tap, jazz, and even a bit of hip hop growing up.  I've even been known to dance a little in the car when one of my many jams comes on.  For me, it is easy to understand God as the Creator and Almighty Artist because I can relate to this characteristic.  I am in awe of His beautiful creation constantly. In fact, spring is coming up, my favorite time of year because you can see all the new things He creates.  I've noticed my gift list is filled with God and His creator heart.

     God has been whispering something new to me lately though.  One that I have heard before, but I think He wants me to understand as I am seeking Him more.  Back in September or October, we had a teacher share at staff prayer this verse: Ephesians 2:10-For we are God's masterpiece.  He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago (NLT).  This truth has been everywhere.  Over and over again, God has reminded me that I am His piece of artwork.  He is the Master Artist and He is painting my life story for His glory.  Currently, I feel a little more like this picture:

A giant blob of paint.  It looks like nothing right now.  You might think that it is a group of clouds, snow covered trees, or maybe even the ocean.  It is hard to tell right now what the artist's intention is in this picture.  Would you hang this picture up in your living room or bedroom?  Would it become the central inspiration piece for a dining room?  Or does it look like a giant finger painting that a small child might create, not worth of much else except to the child and perhaps the parent?

Now look at this painting.  This of course is considered one of the great masterpieces of our time.  "Starry Night" by Vincent Van Gogh.  You can look at this picture and see the passion behind his creation of a night in country.  He tried to capture the vividness of the heavens.  The little blob above is a part of this picture.  I took it from the part by the town.  Would you have guessed that blob was part of a masterpiece?  I probably wouldn't have.

     The point that I think God has been driving home to me lately is that even though I feel like I'm a  "blob," it doesn't mean that is what my life is about.  My life, the whole entity of it, is God's Masterpiece.  He has a plan for me, a plan that will showcase His glory to the world if I will only allow Him to be that Master Artist in my life.  I may long for the control of the brush, the control of perspective, but the picture is only going to turn out as a masterpiece as long as I leave it in His hands. He is using the dark and the light points, the highs and the lows, the seen and the unseen to create a masterpiece.  He uses it all.  As the lyrics from "Tapestry" state, "Your work of art a mystery."  Right now, my masterpiece is a mystery.  I am that mysterious work of art.  When will the mystery be solved?  That day that I meet my Jesus face-to-face.  Until then, I have to trust completely in His grace and plan for me.  The Master Artist is at work!