God's Masterpiece

Have you every prayed really hard for something and you felt God was not listening?  Have your prayers ever gone something like this..."God I know you say you work all things for good and you have plans for me, so I really, really want ...(fill in the blank)... and I know you say you want me to be happy.  I would be happy if you would ...(fill in the blank...).  But God, I want your perfect will, but I know there is no way you would not want ...(fill in the blank)... soooooo please make that happen...swiftly.” Maybe not exactly like that, but pretty close.   The truth is, we are only pulling on the pieces of the verse that we want to hear.  As a nurse on the floor years ago, I used to see this all the time.  I would try to lovingly tell families of dying patients that their loved one is in the final stages of dying so they can prepare themself.  Even when a patient was in the last days of life, and no longer on curative treatment, families struggle with the finality of death.  I would say, “the patients O2 sats are dropping, their respirations are low, as are the blood pressure, and I can barely feel a pulse, but it appears there is no longer redness or signs of infection around the IV site.”  As I would leave the room I would hear the family member call their loved one and say, “she said they are looking better-no signs of infection!”  I learned then that humans hear what they want to hear.   It reminds me of the painting by Georges Seurat.  The painting, “Sunday afternoon on the Island of Grande Jatte” is actually made of thousands of tiny dots.  Up close you can’t really tell what the painting is, but as you step back, the dots become an entire picture.  We are living dot by dot, but God sees the entire picture.  The actual verse many people quote is, “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God” but they forget the rest of the verse which is, “for those who are called according to His purpose.”‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:28‬ ‭HCSB‬‬. The key word in this verse is HIS purpose.  Not ours.  He sees the entire picture.  He allows things to happen, even what we may think of as bad things to ensure His purpose is carried out. Sometimes God causes tension to make us move!  He has the entire picture.  He knows where every “dot” should be placed.  What is funny is that we have not seen the entire picture, yet, we are constantly trying to paint the picture for God rather than letting God be the artist.   Gods plans are always bigger and better, but requires faith and trust.  So when God is answering a prayer by saying “no”or “not right now”, we can be assured that He is working on the masterpiece and it is good.   Love you guys, Have a great week!

Crystal Sent from my iPad