Randomness of Life

A few years ago,
in my second semester of college,
I took,
as part of my curriculum
for Interior Design -
for Art Majors in general -
2-D Design.
Although not part of the course,
it also piqued my interest
in painting.
So I purchased a standard rainbow
of acrylics.
And with those standard colors,
I set to paint
my masterpiece.
I don’t know if it is
a true masterpiece,
but to me,
it is.
It is my first ever painting,
and that sets it apart from all efforts
that have and will follow.

This lovely work is entitled,
The Breath of God on the Randomness of Life.
Long, I know.
Let me explain how I arrived at that.
First of all, let me explain
how it came to appear as it does.
I had,
and still have,
an idea in my head
of a certain image I want to convey.
This is not it.
For one thing,
the aforementioned image
[yet in my head]
is in black and white.
Not sure why I veered from my intention.
Sometimes it's the way of an artist.
I’m happy with my results, though,
quite pleased in fact.
I got done with it,
stepped back to admire my work.
I liked it,
it was nice,
it spoke to me.
Then,
I took a brush,
recently dipped in water,
and swooshed it across the canvas.
I didn’t like it.
I cried.

I had ruined my
beautiful painting.
I was heartbroken.
I stepped away,
to lick my wounds,
artistically speaking,
and scolded myself.
Rather harshly.
But
when I stepped back to assess the damage,
something happened.
Viewing with fresh eyes,
I saw what it had become,
what my dire,
and “stupid” mistake,
my careless whim,
had created.
I saw
The Masterpiece.
And I saw what Papa God
had stirred in me
all along.
I just hadn’t fully seen it.
Till my grave error,
my impulsive whim.
For that whim
gave my painting a whole new meaning.
And gave me its name.
That whim,
that last minute flourish of the brush
became the Breath of God.
And my swirly,
twirly colors,
the Randomness of Life.

For truly,
the breath of God doth blow
on the randomness
of our lives,
daily,
in curious ways,
unexpected ways.
Small ways,
grand gestures,
angels unaware,
kind word spoken.
A smile,
an ice cream treat.
But beyond these,
as intricate as they are to us,
are the orchestrations,
the symphonies,
the “just happened” arrangements.
You know what I’m talking about,

“… the toe bone connected
to the foot bone,
the foot bone connected
to the ankle bone,
the ankle bone connected
to the leg bone … “

how one random moment leads to
some other random event
that leads to
another random occurrence,
and suddenly,
you “just happen”
to have a connection,
an answer.
A miracle.
Something you’ve been waiting for,
a solution you never saw,
never thought about.
Something that is a delight and a blessing to you.
Papa knows our heart,
He made us,
formed us in the womb,
knit us together.
He has plans for us,
plans to prosper us
and not to harm us.
There’s this clever little verse,
Psalm 37:4,
“Delight in the Lord
and He will give you
the desires of your heart.”
Now,
He showed me,
years ago,
what He means by that.
First of all,
when He did all that forming in the womb,
and knitting together,
He threw in some desires,
passions,
talents,
abilities,
giftings.
He designed our personalities,
our calling,
our strengths,
our weaknesses even.
[In our weakness, He is strong.]
What we are,
who we are,
He made that.
So when I say I love to paint,
that pleases Him,
because
He gave me the desire and ability
to paint.
And sing,
and write.
And when I express my desires,
my favorite this,
or favorite that,
of course He wants to give it to me,
He gave me the desire,
the longing,
the passion for it,
whatever it might be.

“Which of you fathers,
if your son asks for a fish,
will give him a snake instead?
Or if he asks for an egg,
will give him a scorpion?
If you … know how to
give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your
Father in heaven give the
Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Papa God is in every moment
of our lives,
whether we realize it
or not.
Whether we acknowledge Him,
or not.
Whether we want Him there,
or not.
He is faithful,
when we are not.
He is peace,
when we are in strife and strain.
He is joy,
and strength,
in the most horrific trials of life.
He is patient with us,
when we aren’t even
patient with ourselves.
He is kind,
He is good,
He is gentle.
His breath blows
across our lives,
as a gentle breeze,
sometimes
a gale force wind.
He speaks to us
through the wind of His Spirit,
He arranges
patterns in our lives,
on the wind of His breath.
That random act of kindness?
That was Him,
that was God.
That connection
that got you that new job
or that promotion,
that was Him.
That friendship,
that anonymous gift,
that “No.”
Sometimes that’s Him, too.
That’s His heart for us,
in every moment,
of every day,
since the beginning of time,

I saw a couple of gems
on Facebook this morning
that speak to this,
that rather sum up my point.

“When we set our hearts
to stay on God’s plan
through the leading of His Holy Spirit
who lives in us,
even if we “miss it” here or there,
the Spirit is committed
to getting us to our destination.”
- Gloria Copeland.
Random acts?
Coincidence?
Just suddenly?
But God.

And when we
wait and wait and wait.
And wait some more.
And see no results,
how many times
do we feel as though
nothing is happening?
God forgot.
He’s too busy.
He’s not interested.
Lies,
all lies.
God does not forget us,
ever.
Ever.
He’s never too busy,
He’s the ultimate,
quintessential
multi-tasker.
And He’s more interested
in our lives
than we are ourselves.
“Not seeing results
from the seeds you've sown?
Relax.
God might be waiting
for the perfect moment.
Remember,
in his book,
there's no such thing as a coincidence.”
- Elizabeth Mitchell
Exactly, Elizabeth,
exactly.