2020-05-25 Coffee with Chris - The Artist is Still Painting You

The speaker reflects on the dedication and focus required for painting miniature figures and compares it to the attention God gives to each individual. They acknowledge that our current state may not align with God's original intention due to the effects of sin, but our potential for growth and sanctification remains. The speaker encourages listeners to embrace the process of sanctification, allowing God to shape and mold them according to His plans. They emphasize the importance of prayer, reading the Bible, and emulating Jesus in speech and life choices. The speaker acknowledges that the process can be challenging and frustrating at times, but finding joy in becoming more like Christ is possible by focusing on this transformation. Ultimately, they remind listeners to be patient and trust in God's work in their lives. Good morning and welcome to Coffee with Chris. You know, yesterday a friend of mine was showing me his new hobby of painting miniature figures. You know, I saw this and honestly I admire the amount of focus and creativity that goes into something like this, you know. I can't imagine having that kind of focus myself, you know, but I admire it because I think it takes a lot of dedication. A lot of dedication to something so small, right? But it has significant meaning because it's putting creativity out there. It's putting art, you know, and it's going to be relaxing that level of focus to focus on one thing. You know, when's the last time you focused on just one thing at a time? But I was thinking about how, compared to God, we are so small and yet God has such focus and attention to detail on each and every one of us. You know, he spent so much time and heart, I mean it may not have been time per se, it's God's ability to create and everything is not tied down to time, but he put so much focus, attention, and heart into creating you, just as you are. Now I'm not going to say that necessarily everything that we are right now was God's intention, because we live in a sinful world and that has both physical and emotional and also spiritual effects on us as well. So, you know, who we are in this exact moment, be it physically or spiritually, may not be representative of who God has intended us to be. But our potential is still there. And even beyond that attention to detail of the art of maybe how we look or the personality quirks that we have, but there's an attention to detail in the art of sanctification. God is focused in on you. He's focused in and he's willing to take that time with you. The question is whether or not we are willing to focus in on the process of sanctification. What do I mean by sanctification? I mean by letting God put his finger on that tiny part that we try and hide away that's not something that he knows is not the best thing for us. And so there's times when he wants us to give something up or take something up. And it's something that we don't want to give up or take up because it's uncomfortable, because it doesn't please our flesh. But at the end of the day, the artist knows what's best for his art. And it's like a puzzle, right? You've got all the pieces that go together and then there's a picture on the box that tells you what it's supposed to look like at the end. Except we don't have the box. God does. He knows what the picture, what we're supposed to look like, what we're supposed to resemble is going to look like. And the closest thing we have to the box is God's Word, the Bible, that shows us an image of what God is like and how we are to emulate Jesus. How we are to emulate him in speech and in life choices. I would encourage you today to get in touch with the artist. To pray, to read God's Word and ask him more about this picture that he's painting in you. And how you can become more like the picture on the box that he has in mind for you today. And be patient with yourself. Just as my friend working on his minifigures had to be patient as he painted. It's not an easy or fast process. It takes time. But it's an enjoyable time. It's not always enjoyable. Sometimes we hate the process of sanctification. It's frustrating. It's annoying. We wish we didn't have to do it. We wish we were already there. But we can find a joy in growing more and more like Christ. If we kind of put other things aside and allow ourselves to focus in on that. There can be a calming effect. It's not always going to be pleasurable, but it can be calming and focusing. Anyways, all that to say, God is working on you. God knows where he's going with you. And we won't always know that. But we need to be patient and allow the artist to do his work. God bless.