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James Whistler was a very famous artist. One of his most famous paintings became known as Whistler’s Mother. One day he was notified by the shipping authorities that a whole shipment of blank canvases he was expecting was missing in the mail. So they asked him if those blank art canvases were of any great value. His reply was, “Not yet, not yet.”
He knew those were more than inexpensive canvases that were blank. When he got finished painting his masterpieces, they would be valuable. But he couldn’t paint the masterpiece without a blank canvas. He couldn’t fulfill the destiny of that blank canvas if it wasn’t given to him.
If you don’t give yourself to God as a blank canvas, He can’t paint the masterpiece. You have to put yourself in His hands. If you try to paint it yourself and make it how you want it to look, then God can’t make you the masterpiece He has envisioned for your days.
He wants you to have His design—the character, the traits, the skills and abilities, the temperament, your motivations and attitudes, your beliefs and your heart’s desires. When those are turned over to Him and He paints them, then you can fulfill your destiny for each day.
Each day God has planned what He has for you. Give Him your canvas. Let Him fulfill what should be on it. After all, He is the One who made you, formed you, and planned for you to be His child. So He has a destiny for you each day of your life.
However, you may wonder about that because at times it doesn’t seem God is involved in the details of our life. Too much is happening that isn’t planned, or maybe it seems out of control. On the days you feel that way, go to Psalm 139. It’s a great reminder of the perception of God about you.
The man David wrote that psalm and it was during a time when he also needed some reassurance from God. So the Holy Spirit gave him words to write to reassure us of how we are formed and will be made into all He desires.
David wrote, My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret…. Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them. How precious and weighty also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! (Ref. Psalm 139:15-17.)
Your frame, what you are and who you are, has never been hidden from God. When you were still in your mother, all your days began taking shape. God thinks about you all the time. So of course it’s His desire to paint your life as the picture He has for you.
But because He’s given you the right of free choice, to submit to the Divine Artist or not, you have to pray, “Lord, make me. Fulfill my destiny.” You started out as a blank canvas, but it’s up to you to give it over to God to fill it, or you can fill it yourself and be dissatisfied.
So believe in what God desires to make you and believe you can get there. Don’t assess yourself and think He can’t make you into what you ought to be. Believe in His ability, not your own.
There is a prayer that God wants to hear from your heart. He wants it to be your deepest desire, your greatest goal. He wants to hear these words from you, “Lord, make me.” You want Him to make you into all He has for you. Everything He wants you to be, the way you grow, your character and attitude, the fullness of your desire for Him, your knowledge and understanding and your desire to become as He is and fulfill what He has made you to be.
You submit your will to His because you want to be more like Him. All your aims, goals, and desires are wrapped up in His will for you, His purposes. You want to talk and act as He does. “Make me, Lord!” is the cry of your heart. You don’t want to be just what you desire or what your human nature tries to get you to be. Oh no, your life is His.
But we know that doesn’t happen overnight. In fact His Spirit works in us every day if we allow it. If we don’t allow it, we’ll be emptier, less fulfilled, and really frustrated.
But when we turn our life over to Him in such a complete way, that’s when we can become complete, happier and more satisfied, knowing that we have changed our character to be as God’s and we’re fulfilling His destiny for us. We say to Him, “Fulfill my destiny.”
Spiritual Powerline to say out loud:
“I BECOME ALL GOD HAS FOR ME!”
Here is a powerful prayer to say out loud:
Lord, my day belongs to You. My life is Yours. Make me what You desire. I will fulfill everything You have for my life. Therefore, I will walk in Your blessings, protection, and accomplishment. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
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