Understanding the Masterpiece

Yesterday, at my daughter's request, I prayed for no rain. Yesterday, it rained. It rained in a way that left me in no doubt of the fact that it was raining. So... not just a misty drizzle. A steady, constant downpour that made the little ditty from Disney's Winnie-the-Pooh fill my head all evening: "The rain rain rain came down down down, in rushing, rising rivlets..."

Yesterday, I prayed that no matter what happened, that God would be glorified. So, in our home, we postponed the parties, swallowed the disappointments, and focused instead on what we could see God doing in place of our plans. 

There was family togetherness yesterday. After I'd sludged through reams of homework, we had a family movie marathon. Supper on the couch. My husband played a board game with the kids. My youngest daughter FaceTimed Grammy. I read a story to the family. For once, no one had great demands on their time (besides my homework, but I did get to a stopping place, which was nice). :)

In that simplicity, I found God's faithfulness. Simplicity is rare these days; I think the whole family needed the rest that it brought.

This morning, I turned to Isaiah 55:8-11, which says: "'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is My word that goes out from My mouth. It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.'"

I have a pretty good sense of direction, usually, but for some reason, mountain trails can have a tendency to throw me off a little. More than once, I've parked my car at the head of a trail and hiked along it for a couple of miles, and when I reach the overlook point, I see the road I took to get to the trail head...

And it's not even close to where I'd thought it was in my head. My perspective was changed by my outlook. In the valley, I couldn't see; from the mountaintop, the picture became clear.

There's a scene in my favorite Pirates of the Caribbean movie where Commodore Norrington glances over Captain Jack Sparrow's effects. He opens a compass, then closes it with a snap, snidely remarking: "A compass that doesn't point north." Later, Jack's first mate narrates at the helm of a ship cutting through the water: "Aye, the compass doesn't point north. But we're not trying to find north, are we?"

Obviously, that's not how compasses work, but I think the idea is interesting. Norrington thought he knew the direction of Jack's plan, but Jack's plan was far and away different from Norrington's, a much wider plan with a much more extensive scope than anyone realized. 

As I was praying this morning, I kept coming back to the word: "Masterpiece." If you think about it: when an artist paints his masterpiece, he has some idea in his head of the final product. When a musician composes his masterpiece, he can already hear in his head the music before it ever makes it into score form. An author who writes a book knows his characters and (usually) his plot before he puts them onto paper. A tapestry weaver sews a myriad of thread colors into his masterpiece long before the picture ever comes clear.

So when I pray for something and God says 'No,' do I throw a fit that the Maker of the masterpiece does not take my suggestion? Sometimes He does, but He also has a much wider view and a much longer range of vision for His plan. If I pray heartily for the weaver of the tapestry to make a gray sunset, and He disagrees, preferring instead to add vibrant shades of rose, orange, gold, and fuchsia... how much more beautiful will be His work than mine?

How can we apply this to current events? Should I even pray, knowing that God already has His plan set in place? 

Of course! I stand by what I wrote yesterday: that the heartbeat of God is that we pray... that was pray, believing that He will listen and answer. Revelation 5:8 says: "Each one had a harp, and they were holding gold bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God's people." Our prayers are a sacrificial offering, a pleasing aroma. They are the breaking of our souls as we bring our hearts into line with Him.

I stand also by what I write today: that God sees the whole plan, and that I can live with the 'No,' because His ways are so far higher than my ways.

And when we have that perspective, I think we can truly say, from the heart and as Jesus taught: "Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."