Masterpiece

Sometimes I feel crafty (often fueled by Pinterest), and occasionally one turns out pretty well. This coffee table was a project that I took on several years ago. I got 4 crates, a couple boards and 4 wheels and turned them into a coffee table. I stained the crates, made a frame out of the boards, put it all together, and put the wheels on the bottom. I even found the perfectly sized glass box to put in the hole in the middle. That pile of crates, boards, wheels, stain, nails and screws could have ended up as anything. I chose to make it a coffee table.

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 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. Ephesians 2:8-10

Just think about that, make it personal. You are God’s masterpiece. He created you and planned good things for you long ago. Things meant just for you and no one else. Just like I took those supplies and created something useful, God created you and has plans to use you in His story. Those crates and boards weren’t perfect when I started with them. You don’t have to be perfect for God to start with you. You can be just a mess of random items. He will put you together into something beautiful if you let him.

God has been watching me this whole time, my whole life. He has been patiently waiting for me to understand. To really open my whole heart and soul to Him. He has waited 50 years for me to figure it out. I am not known for my patience. I want things to happen quickly, in my time. God’s plans are patient, long-reaching plans. How I wish I would have figured this out sooner, but He put together a path paved by my wanderings and poor decisions to get me here. What a marvelous God!

This gift of faith, peace, and joy is definitely not of my own doing, it is in spite of what I’ve done. Many of the choices I’ve made should have led to destruction. None of us deserve salvation. That, my friends, is grace. A true gift to me, an undeserving sinner.

The world today tells us to “follow your heart”, “make your own destiny”, “decide your own future”, “do what makes you happy”. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us, Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Emotions lie, they will lead you astray. We have such a narrow view of life. God sees it all. He has had plans for me (and you) since before I was born. If we trust Him and seek his will for our lives, He will place desires in our hearts that will lead to true faith, peace and joy; things we never even knew we wanted.

Get to know Jesus. Open your heart and let him in. You can ask for an open heart. You can ask for increased faith. You can ask for wisdom. You don’t have to produce those things on your own, you can’t. I tried for years to have more faith, to do the right things, to pray the right prayers. I couldn’t do it. I had to let Him do it for me. Let him re-create you.

That little coffee table is several years old now. One of the wheels needed to be refastened. It has several scratches and scuffs. But I still love it. I have scuffs and scratches from this life too. But God doesn’t see them. He fixes me up good as new. He still sees me as his beloved masterpiece.