For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 2 Corinthians 4:17 (NIV)
Maria Aristidou was working on a commission one day, using watercolors, when she spilled her coffee onto the canvas. A terrible accident and a waste of time and product, you might think. But as Maria stared at the soiled picture, an idea began to germinate in her mind. Rather than tossing out the canvas, she used the coffee and coffee grounds to create a different sort of painting. Her work is now entirely made from coffee and coffee grounds and has become famous in the art world. A spill turned into a piece of art.
Isn’t that what God has been doing since the dawn of time? He takes hopeless situations and redeems our loss, transforming our lives into something much more beautiful than we could ever have imagined. Because He sees the potential.
Are you suffering through a season of discouragement? Do you find yourself in a situation that appears to be a dead-end? Do you believe that you’ve crossed the line, that everything you’ve done and lived render you “unredeemable?” Nothing could be further from the truth. There is nothing and no one that is beyond God’s grace and mercy. He is able to redeem the most broken life and turn it into a masterpiece that glorifies Him.
Likewise, our trials, though seemingly great in our eyes are, from God’s perspective, merely light and momentary steppingstones towards an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
It’s all in how you look at it.
Prayer: We thank you and praise you, Lord, for your transforming power. Thank you that nothing and no one is beyond your love and your redemptive touch. Help us, when trials come, to remember that you can and will use everything – whether good or bad – to your glory. In your name we pray, Amen.
Thought: “From this side of glory we see the tapestry from underneath, and it is full of knots and twisted threads and frayed ends that lack meaning and beauty. From God’s perspective, it is all under control.” – Charles Swindoll