The Artist and His Painting
Posted on July 9th, 2009.by Kenny Innes
Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (NKJV)
When wrestling with the idea that a loving God allows pain to exist in our lives, C.S. Lewis uses an analogy to help his readers.
He talks about an artist who, when creating something for a small child to hang on their wall, may take a short time to sketch out something fun that will please the child. However, when he undertakes his life’s greatest work, that painting which will define his artistry and speak volumes about who he is, he will take as much time as is needed. Indeed, in the process of making that painting perfect, he will suffer for, and cause much suffering to the painting.
Lewis imagines that if we could hear that painting talk, it may say,
“Oh, I wish I were a thumbnail sketch! Then the artist would bother less with my perfection! I cannot stand the way he scrapes, rubs and starts me over again and again!”
The painting wishes it were something less, something not so important, something not so glorious. But the artist has destined this painting to be the crown of his achievements. He loves the painting with passion, and will not cease until it becomes what he always imagined it would be.
Lewis says that God is much the same way with His creation. From our perspective, pain can often seem random and meaningless. We often desire that God would leave us alone, and accuse Him of not loving us. The truth is that God loves us so much that He is not content with making us merely happy, but with making us holy.
Times of pain and struggling are opportunities for us to cling to God, drawing nearer to Him and letting His tremendous love work in and perfect us, until we become more and more the glorious people that He planned for us to be.
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As a boy I loved to play with my dad. I craved his attention; accept when it came to discipline. Yet my dad’s love for me wasn’t dependant on whether I was good or bad. Truthfully, he loved me more in my disobedience through discipline. So does God, and his hands are much bigger! Ouch!!