December 2009 |
Dear Friends: I was talking to someone recently who was looking back on her life with regret. Her marriage was difficult. Her children had grown but were not walking with God. Her mistakes were haunting her. When I encouraged her with God's promises, she said sadly, “It's too late for me.” Do you ever feel like it's too late for you?
If so, read on. This story might be just the encouragement you need to give God a chance to make something beautiful of your life. In 1463, an Italian sculptor and architect, Agostino di Duccio, was commissioned to create a grandiose sculpture for the Cathedral of Florence. He went to the quarries and carefully chose a piece of marble that seemed to be perfect for the masterpiece he envisioned. Back at his workplace, he studied the stone and then began to work on it – planning, chipping, carving, adjusting – but all without success. The marble block was simply too narrow for the work he had in mind. Disappointed, he discarded the stone and never was able to complete the masterpiece he had dreamed of. That unusable block of marble lay on the scrapheap, as it were, for nearly 40 years before another artist came along in 1501, saw its possibilities, paid for it, and asked that it be delivered to his studio. Over the next three years, Michelangelo worked painstakingly with the cast-off stone and, one thoughtful stroke at a time, created from it the great sculpture of David that is now considered to be one of the greatest artistic masterpieces of all time. And, interestingly, while other artists through the centuries had offered various depictions of David, they almost always chose to show him after his triumph over Goliath, often with bloodied head in hand. Michelangelo, though, shows David as he prepares to meet Goliath. The artist shows not the triumph of David, but the potential in his yet-to-be-lived-out life. It seems that Michelangelo's perspective was looking to the future, not the past! A few years ago my husband, Warren, and I were privileged to be able to spend some time in Italy . Because we both deeply appreciate both the talent and commitment of Michelangelo, we spent time in both Rome and Florence seeking out his great sculptures. One morning, we entered the Galeria dell' Academia in Florence, turned a corner into a viewing gallery and found ourselves gazing at Michelangelo's incredible sculpture of David. We walked around the work of art admiring the stance, the realism of the musculature, and the look of quiet confidence on David's face as he prepared to fight the giant in his life. It is truly inspiring to see what a great artist can do with vision and a block of stone! I don't know if you feel you have been on the scrapheap for a long time, but it's not too late. The secret is not in the stone, but in the sculptor. Our Creator is the Great Artist who has a vision of what He can make out of the scrap yard situations in our lives. He knows what can be done in one who may be overlooked by the rest of the world. And He has just the right tools and the right touch to make a masterpiece of a life that has been filled with flaws and failures. We know that our transformation into God's masterpiece is possible only because Jesus came to earth to become like us so that we could become like Him. He died on the cross so that we, too, could die to ourselves. He rose from the dead so that we, too, could have life eternal. And He lives in us by the Holy Spirit who is presently sculpting us to look like Jesus.
You see, God is like Michelangelo in that He is looking at our future, not at our past. It's not too late to give Him control of our cast-off lives. Then we simply let Him do his work. It may take awhile. Carving marble is a big task and change usually occurs just one chip at a time. So we must be patient. But it is a patience filled with anticipation as we eagerly see the image of Christ beginning to take shape in us. All the blessings of our Creater-Redeemer to you this Christmas! |
