Have you ever had a time in your life that you have wondered if your life had
purpose or meaning?
Have you ever felt that you are just a shell taking up space on the earth?
Have you ever looked at your life and seen existence, but not real living?
Have you ever felt like damaged or broken goods? Maybe even that there was
confirmation of your feelings because of horrible things happening throughout
your life?
Have you ever wanted to be fully and totally loved for who you are, and not what
you can pretend to be?
Have you ever wanted to be fully loved and accepted, but you have reasoned that
it’s impossible and unrealistic?
I don’t know anyone who hasn’t said yes to most, if not all, of these questions.
They seem to be those unanswerable questions that float around our heads as we
trudge though our existence. But what if there was an answer to these questions
and more?
What if you were told that even though you have been told you are a lump of
dirt, that in reality you were a precious and priceless gem? Most of us would
say, “Yeah, right!” We wouldn’t believe it.
Let me paint a picture for you:
Picture this: An artist goes to his shop or studio. He has a plan for a
masterpiece. He sees it, even before it is created. This plan, this creation, is
a part of his heart. He can think of nothing else. He begins to carefully and
precisely work the creation, this masterpiece, into being. He knows every inch,
every detail. He knows everything he has used for materials. He knows each tool.
When He is done, He admires His work. It is everything He imagined it could be.
Into this masterpiece, He has placed His heart.
He has not built anything like this before. It’s a one-of-a-kind. But one day
this creation of His is stolen from Him. Right out of His hands. Instantly His
heart is broken at the loss. He can think of nothing, but how He can get back
His prized possession.
The one who stole this piece of art, he has no heart for this work. He sees no
value. His only purpose for taking the possession was to give pain to the
artist. He takes this beloved piece and he throws it to the ground. He kicks
dirt on it, steps on it, and tosses it aside in a dark, cold place.
If we think of this masterpiece as living, we can imagine what it would feel. In
the place where it is at, it feels no love, no warmth, no caring. It has been,
in a sense, told that it has no value, no purpose, no meaning.
After time, the artist/creator is a distant memory. If He can be remembered at
all. All the piece can see is darkness, coldness, and cruelty. Existence, but
nothing more. It wonders why it was ever created.
This piece which has been tossed aside gets passed and moved from one place to
another. The one who stole it does not care so long as the creation and creator
are separated. After time the thief feels no threat of them being united. The
soul of the creation is broken. It has no memory of where it came from.
It sits in an abandoned dump, wishing to belong to someone. It has been picked
up before. It would seem good for a time to be wanted, but it was never fully
satisfying, and it always ended the same. Tossed aside for something new and
different.
Over the years this piece has become broken and worn. Many have tried to fix it,
but all attempts were in vain. This piece has even tried to fix itself, but
again to no success.
One day someone comes and sees this worn and tattered piece of art. He says He
would like to take it home with Him. He says that He can clean it up and make it
like new. The piece of art wants to be loved, wanted, and fixed, but is in
disbelief. Many have tried before, but the end result has always been the same.
Being tossed aside, once found unfixable.
This piece of art has a choice. He can go with this person, Place his being in
the hands of this man, or it can remain where it is.
To be cleaned and repaired means being exposed and vulnerable. Nothing will be
hidden. Yet where he is at isn’t a rose garden. He is wounded and unwanted.
There seems to be something different about this man though. Something that
seems to draw you to him. Yet there is a part that is scary. He says He
recognizes the piece of art as His creation. The creation knows that it looks
undesirable. It can’t imagine how it could even be wanted, but knowing that the
Creator is it’s only way of being saved from full destruction of rot and decay,
it places itself in the Creator’s hands.
Once brought into the hands of the creator, there begins the process of being
made whole. This process, the piece thought, would be easy. The creator would
simply pour water over it and it would be instantly clean. But that was not how
it worked.
It was over time that the dirt and corrosion had taken it’s toll, and it would
be time and patience and hard work that would restore this piece.
There were times that the piece would have to undergo scraping and sanding.
These times were hard and sometimes painful, but the Creator said it was
necessary to get it all, so that corrosion would not return. Day after day of
being cleaned and scrubbed, there were times the piece thought it would never,
could never, be cleaned. It was during those times that the Creator reminded the
piece that He was still there, that He wasn’t going to give up, and that He
didn’t see the piece as old and corroded, He saw the masterpiece He created, The
one He put His heart into.
After what seemed a very long time of sanding and scraping, something new
happened. The Creator brought a rag and a special oil. The oil felt healing and
refreshing. There were times the Creator would rub firmly with the cloth, and it
would be uncomfortable, but the piece was assured that in order for the oil to
penetrate and heal was through the openness of the pores and rubbing the oil
into every part, every groove. Through time and much love, the Creator slowly
restored the piece back to it’s original beauty.
When all was done, the creation asked his Creator why the process took so long
to restore him to his original beauty. The Creator replied, “If I had tried to
repair you all at once, in the condition you were in, you would not have
survived it. Because I worked slowly over time, your strength was built up so
that I could perform the next step, and you would be able to endure it.”
Then the creation asked, “Why didn’t you just give up? Why didn’t you throw me
away and build another?”
The Creator said, “Because I have loved you even before you were created. You
were and are mine, and there is no other like you.”
Each and every one of us who are walking the earth today, walked in the past, or
are yet to be born, are just like the masterpiece in the story. We were
“birthed” or “created” out of a deep well of love flowing in our Creator. Each
one of us is more precious to Him than we could ever imagine. He formed us with
love and care.
In the beginning, after creation, we were stolen from God, by Satan, through
sin. Satan’s only goal, was to hurt God our Creator by destroying us, His
creation.
Satan has kicked us around and thrown dirt at us. He has told us we are unloved,
unwanted and unfixable. He wants us to believe that our loving Creator has
abandoned us, but the opposite is true.
Ever since the day we were stolen, God has searched for us. He has made a way
for us to come to Him, through His Son, Jesus.
Many times we pull away because of our condition. We are aware of our filth and
decay. We don’t know how anyone can see beyond it, but God sees the beauty He
created us to be, and He will do anything in His power to restore us to what we
were created to be. All we have to do is to put ourselves in the hands of the
Creator.
It is only then, that we have a chance to be restored.
In the story, many tried to restore the piece of art, and it tried to restore
itself, but only the Creator could do it. Because He knows every detail of our
being. He carefully formed us, and only He knows how to restore us.
Written by Lynn Little Inspired by God