Martha Olawale

“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” Job 23:10

I’m not an artist by any means but my daughter is. She loves art and picked up drawing at an early age. For every birthday, she gives the most beautiful, personalized art. It’s just a form of relaxation for her and serves as an outlet to express herself.

To encourage her interest, I buy her drawing pens and pencils all the time. She loves it when she sees well-chiseled pencils because of how easy and clear they make the drawing experience. She has an electric sharpener on her desk, and you’ll know she’s creating something new when you hear the gritting sound of the pencil going through the sharpener. For every page of art she draws, her pencils go through the process multiple times.

Job’s story is one of extreme circumstances, but we can all relate to his despair and confusion.  He lost it all, but still had it all. Although he was oblivion of the fact that He was not being tested by God, He kept His focus on his maker.

It is not fun to go through trying times and to battle forces, you can’t see. However, each time you make it through a round of opposition, your faith grows taller, and your trust becomes a little wider. At such times, God is making perfect art out of your life. Like a pencil in the hands of the master artist, you might have to go through the sharpening process multiple times before the picture of your life becomes the star of the gallery.

Most of us are living on the steam from our past encounters with God. We are drafting our stories with dull ends instead of allowing God to sharpen us, removing the excesses barring Him from accessing the perfections within us. In place of total surrender to His will for our life, we assume the role of critic before the end of the story. Just because everything looks blurry when we go through trying times does not mean God is done with us, we are simply going through a sharpening process. And although it hurts, it prepares us for the next angels and curves God wants to walk us through in life.