The Bible tells us one story after another of God meeting people where they hurt and providing the hope and encouragement they need in times of trial. I’m glad those stories of hope are contained throughout the Bible, and I’m glad I hear other stories of hope today. When I’m at a low point, I remember those stories and think, “If good came out of bad circumstances for that person, then maybe it will happen for me, too.”
Without hope we all look the same – we feel trapped, rejected, shut out. Yet, with hope, we muster the courage to take that next step. Me? I can “see” Jesus walking beside me. His words of mercy, His comfort, His grace! Jesus continues to turn my mistakes into miracles.
Max Lucado tells a wonderful story. One hundred years ago, fishermen were relaxing in the dining room of a Scottish seaside inn, trading fish “whopper” stories. One of the men gestured widely, depicting the size of a fish that got away. His arm struck the server’s tea tray, sending the teapot flying hitting a newly whitewashed wall. The result was a very large, irregular brown stain. The innkeeper assessed the damage, declaring, “The entire wall will have to be repainted.” “Maybe not,” said a stranger. “Let me work with it.”
The innkeeper consented, obviously pleased he didn’t have a mess to deal with. The man pulled his art tools out of his box. He sketched lines around the stains and dabbed shades and colors throughout the splashes of tea. In time, an image began to emerge: a stag with a great rack of antlers. The man inscribed his signature at the bottom, paid for his meal, and left. The name inscribed was Sir Edwin Landseer, a famous wildlife painter.
In the painter’s hands, one person’s mistake became a masterpiece. God does the same in us everyday. In His hands we become masterpieces, over and over. God takes the blotches in our life and turns them into masterful art.
Are you ready for God to make a masterpiece of your life?
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:1-2
