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TITLE: The Masterpiece
By Elizabeth White
03/30/07
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The masterpiece was finally complete, yet at the same time it had only just begun. She looked at her page, so full of meaning, so much behind it, and yet, who would know? Who could tell how much had gone into this, her masterpiece. So much of her was within her work, so much could be told, read about who she was, and yet at the same time it was a mask, trapping her from sharing with someone her deepest desires and fears. So often it was like that within the Christian life. There was so much that she wanted to share with someone at times, about who she was in Christ, such a picture of a dream, family in Christ where people really journeyed with one another. It was something she had prayed about for so long and finally seemed to have found. In a way, that was what this was, a way to express who she was to another, to share her thoughts and feelings, her hopes, dreams and her tears. The masterpiece spoke so much, to the one who could read it.
It was such a picture of faith, sometimes it wasn’t always easy. Faith was about trusting in God, even when she couldn’t see what was ahead. Following God when she couldn’t possibly see how he could work through her situation, but trusting in him through it anyway and responding in obedience. Her masterpiece was such a picture of that, not being able to see, but trusting, journeying with him anyway. There were times when she couldn’t see through the storms, but she had learnt the faithfulness of the master, she could always trust in him. He journeyed with her through the storms.
The master, in some ways, that was what it was her masterpiece, her life was in the control of the master, and yet at the same time there was another meaning.
In a way the masterpiece was like an end. It felt like she had come to the point where she just didn’t know how to trust in Christ anymore, how she could follow him. Living by faith wasn’t always easy. So in one way her masterpiece was like a closed door, an ending. There had been times where she felt like giving up, that she couldn’t go anywhere anymore. Yet, where could she go if it wasn’t back to her Father? There was no hope without him. So, in another way, the masterpiece was about, giving up, running back to her Father, stopping trying to do things in her own strength, but surrendering her life to his control.
She had felt like that. Faith took time, it wasn’t easy, it was so hard to trust, to keep on trusting when nothing seemed to be happening. She was striving, trying and putting all her effort into trusting. It seemed really silly, trying to trust, and yet at the same time that was what the masterpiece was, so much meaning out of nothing, something that was meaningless. Once more she stared at the page and it looked back, sometimes it was an ending, a finished product, as a feeling of hopelessness filled her, and yet, at the same time it had so much potential. A blank piece of paper, yet it became so much more, a masterpiece, when trusted into the master’s hands.
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