Lenten Devotional | March 4, 2012 | Can You See God Written Into Your Life

‎"All of your talents and abilities owe their existence to God. He gave them to you for a reason."      -David Stephens 

I’m not exactly sure why, probably a spur of the moment thing, but my wife and I ducked into one of those mall stores selling Christian paintings.  Granted, we hadn’t entered into the New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, but since neither one of us could distinguish a Picasso from a Monet, it really didn’t matter.  A small art museum in the mall certainly wasn’t beneath us going in.

I can’t tell you any of the artists’ names, nor remember seeing any of their works hanging in the gallery.  But I do remember thumbing through one artist’s book of paintings.  Somewhere within each painting, this particular artist always hid his initials.  We didn’t care so much for his work, but had a great time seeing who could find his initials in each painting the quickest.

All of creation expresses God’s creativity.  From the ocean’s coral reefs to the mountain’s snow-capped peaks; from your body’s DNA to the distant stars millions of light years away, God has written Himself into all of creation.  After the fifth day of creation, the bible doesn’t record God directly speaking anything else into existence.  On the sixth day, He formed man from the dust of the Earth, and then rested on the seventh.

And yet, since the seventh day, God has not ceased creating.  Instead of working with words and dust, He inspires mankind to bring about His desires.  Whether the symphonies of Beethoven, the paintings of a Picasso or Monet, or even Alexander Fleming’s accidental discovery of penicillin, God continues to create through people.  After all, He is the creator of the ones creating.

In all that is created, you can see God’s initials.  Even in your life, they’re there.  Of course, you’ll never find them unless you look.  All of your talents and abilities owe their existence to God.  He gave them to you for a reason.

What desire of His, might God be bringing about through you?  Maybe He is expressing Himself through an idea or something you’re planning to do.  Maybe it’s in writing, or art, or sports, or something as simple as the creativity of raising kids.  I don’t know, but He does.  And I think you do too.

As God’s creativity falls from His hands into your life, He takes a brush and paints His initials somewhere within your desires.  You just need to find His signature.  And once you do, once you recognize God as the author of your desires, you’ll be free to create.  Now is your time to begin.