Strokes
Many of us in desperation want to build the grand picture projected in our hearts in one day. God did not promise us that. He simply said follow me. In this journey to greatness, the earlier we know that the grand picture in our hearts is made of strokes, the more patience we will exercise in learning how to skillfully paint them.
Genesis 12:1–3 (NLT) Then the LORD told Abram, “Leave your country, your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. I will cause you to become the father of a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and I will make you a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
God told this great patriarch called Abraham to leave his father’s house and go to a place “that flows with milk and honey”. Note that in this passage of scripture, God did not tell Abraham (Abram at the time) the location (which is today’s Israel). He just told him to go. That is scary right? Well No. Let me quickly add this “when you spend time communing with God, He will become more real to you” and it will be easy to trust in His leadership over you.
Because this patriarch had been spending some time knowing God, he was able to trust God knowing that the Lord had great intentions for him (Please I want you to know that when God tells you to do stuff, it is because He cares for your well-being). From aforementioned story (as well as other unmentioned biblical stories alike) we learn that, when we hear from God concerning a matter (His will), it comes in brush strokes and our obedience to God’s instructions takes us further in navigating the canvas. Pastor Chris Delvan will call it “the secret adventures of the righteous”.
Psalms 119:105 (NLT) Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path.
After God has shown us His will, we must know that the revelation of His will is progressive. He can freely permit us to be filled with all knowledge but we will constantly need to enquire from Him that he may reveal to us His wisdom (the know-how) that we may gain spiritual understanding (the why behind the how). When an artist paints on a canvas, he sources from the knowledge of what is in His heart but relies on the wisdom gained overtime to paint out in the grand picture. That picture has always been in his heart. But through understanding, he must be careful not to rush the process in order to prevent a nondescript caricature of the original. The reason God doesn’t dish out all His wisdom at once for a particular task is that He doesn’t want us to produce wishy-washy paintings.
Matthew 4:4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every word of God.’ ”
Just as it takes many brush strokes dipped in paint to form a picture, so does it take every word that comes out of the mouth of God to get to the destination where God is taking us to. We must learn not to hear a single instruction from God and then go on to do His will our way. It will produce a blurred picture or worse, no picture at all. We must learn to listen to the author of our dreams. He knows the way. In fact, He is the way. This is a strong reason for us to spend time in fellowship with God through meditation and contemplation on His word.
Bolu Olatunji.
Pray like this: Lord, please teach me how to deal with you that we may paint beautiful pictures together. Amen!
