God is like a master painter or sculptor. However, instead of working with a canvas, paint, or clay, each one of us is His medium. “We are his workmanship” we are told (Eph. 2:10a).

He is in the process of building a masterpiece out of each one of us. Through trials, tribulations, and discipline, He is working to create the ideal of what He wants us to be. It takes time and discomfort on our part to form the final product. 

The reason that we’re not formed into our ideal selves overnight is because it takes materials, time, and precision to create a masterpiece. Not much skill or paint is needed to make a watercolor picture on an 8 1/2 X 11 piece of plain paper. To make a masterpiece, like He wants each of us to be, requires a lot more resources.

To be certain, God could change us instantly, but that’s not the way He does things. He prefers to work within the bounds of this physical world he has placed us in. He uses the circumstances of our everyday lives to mold and make us into something better.

Each trial or challenge that we endure and come out on the other side of changes us just a little bit. Every time that He disciplines us and we learn from it, we move one step closer to what God wants us to be. “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Heb. 12:11).

If we were instantly changed, then we could not enjoy the process of seeing ourselves become better. 

Of course, that doesn’t mean that our pathway is always pleasant. Far from it. Change is difficult, and even more so when we buck against the system that God has in place.

Far too many times, I’ve rebelled against God’s discipline. I’ve railed against Him for allowing so many challenges and tribulations in my life. It feels hypocritical even to write about this because I’m one of the ones who most needs to take all this to heart.

My rebellion has gotten me nowhere. Getting mad at God because of some trouble in life never has done me any good. I always regret it later, tell Him I’m sorry, and vow to try harder not to let the trials of life knock me off course.

I’m still working on all that obviously. I need to allow God to mold me into the piece of art He wants for me.

How are you doing with it?