I love how the Lord sees the whole picture –the whole picture of our lives, the whole picture of all time, of all of the earth –together and individually all at once.

It’s like a magnificent “paint by numbers”…

Each one of us as our very own, unique “paint by numbers”, and God already sees the finished picture because He designed it for us. He’s already looking at all the colors painted into their spaces of the design. He even already sees the unintentional smudges and the ones we accidentally painted out-of-order or maybe even the wrong color in the wrong space. He knows it will still be beautiful.

It’s up to us to paint our part, to paint the colors into our very own, unique “paint by numbers” picture.

We can choose whether or not we paint the “right” color into the right “space” and in the designed “order” and time. We may paint quickly or we may paint slowly. We can choose whether or not to follow the instructions and we can also choose to not paint anything at all.

He gives us the instructions, He gives us the paint and the paintbrush, and sometimes He gives us little clues on what the picture could and might be as we paint and start to see pieces of it come together.

I remember doing these “paint by numbers” paintings as a child, do you? When I would start to see the picture coming together, I would be like, “WOW, I did that?”

What I didn’t know until doing some reading today was this:

“paint by numbers has been scientifically proven to reduce anxiety, create focus, and promote mindfulness.”

Isn’t that interesting?

Maybe you don’t even consider yourself an “artist” or “painter” at all — and yet if you follow the order, the instructions, the guidance of the “paint by numbers”, you can create an amazing work of art, all the while setting your mind at ease, apparently. No skill of your own even necessary.

And just like we each have our own “paint by numbers”, we also have the whole picture. A mysterious, intricate, grand picture design, that each of ours fits into –somehow… ?

-Heather ?