by Anna Haiar

The Greater Design

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
James 1:4 New International Version

My middle school art classes began a watercolor project last week where they will focus on technique and control, among other things. As I began painting watercolor leaves as an example to show the class, I was reminded that art is rarely rushed. Each brushstroke demands patience: waiting for one layer to dry before adding the next, learning how water moves, and how pigment blooms across the page. Too much haste, and the colors blur into chaos; too much hesitation, and the paper dries before the paint can flow.

It’s the same with God’s work in us. He doesn’t rush the process. He allows seasons of blending and waiting, of mistakes and do-overs, because He’s crafting something more lasting than we can yet see. Just as we must choose the right brush or the right tone of red or gold, God carefully chooses the tools and circumstances that will best shape our character.

Sometimes, a mistake—a color too dark, a line that bleeds—seems to ruin the image. Yet with watercolor, even those “flaws” can become unexpected beauty. A leaf’s shadow deepens; a vein takes on life where I hadn’t planned it. Our missteps in life can do the same when surrendered to the Master’s hand. He uses them to add depth, compassion, and wisdom where once there was only pride or impatience. The painting process teaches me to slow down, to trust that the picture isn’t finished just because I can’t yet see the whole. Each gentle wash, each quiet correction, is part of a greater design.

In God’s timing, the blurred edges and patient layers come together into something far more beautiful than I could have planned: a reflection of His artistry, painted in my life

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado