Christ’s Masterpiece
Ephesians 2:10 AMP

I like maps. Road trips, too. I don’t so much like the packing and prep work. Really the only part I like is planning out the route I’ll take. Before smart phones and GPS, I would grab an honest-to-goodness paper map and plot my course. I would consider alternate roadways in case of an accident, or I hit a major city near rush hour. These considerations were all pondered to the best of my ability. I like knowing where I’m going and how I’m going to get there.

Imagine my surprise when life threw me a curve and I didn’t end up where I had prearranged. There used to be a famous page in the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book years ago to which we would all refer when we felt someone was trying to control things we all knew they couldn’t. Page 449 had a line that went something like, And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing or situation — some fact of my life — unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment.

Personally, I have a problem accepting that things aren’t the way I think they should be. If I’m being honest, it’s my number one problem, but over the years I have found comfort in knowing that an ALL-KNOWING GOD knows all. Today’s verses remind me that God predestined and preordained my life. He knows the beginning from the end and rightly discerns what is needed for me to become more like Him. He created me perfect in His sight. I hold inside me a precious masterpiece. His plan is to flesh out that masterpiece by removing my imperfections. Don’t forget that, when heated, metal releases its dross. Only then can the smithe purify His prized treasure. For metal to have value, the dross must be removed. When left intact the dross also weakens the metal and many times leaves it unfit for use. If I’m feeling the pressure, let me remember that the heat was turned up to render me fit for His service.

For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us].

Today, when things run amuck, let me remember that, regardless of what it might look like or what pain I might be in, God, the one who loves, loves, loves me has already been there and has the best plans for me. This is truly above my paygrade. His is the best plan for my life, even if it involves destinations I never saw coming.