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“And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Revelation 21:5a (ESV)

 A few months ago, I attended a conference that featured  Worship Painters. As the singers sang, the painters painted. I was sitting right near this one young woman whose canvas had one word written on it: SHINE. As she started to paint, she began to cover up that word. At first, you could see it slightly through the paint. But, then she began to paint some more. Covering, covering and covering the word “Shine”. I didn’t get it. I began to think that she was trying to hide the word. Maybe she didn’t like the work she had done and wanted to mask it. Or maybe she thought it wasn’t good enough. I started to feel bad for her as she painted, painted and painted.

 Until.  She started to peel back some tape. It turned out that the word “Shine” was written in tape. As she carefully took it off, it revealed this one word in bright white.  The color of the canvas. She had peeled back all of those layers of paint to reveal a purity that was totally unexpected.

 And it hit me. So, I went up to her before worship was even over to tell her what I saw: a vivid, colorful, beautiful reminder of what God does for us. Once we sin, we so often try to run from God. We try to hide our wrong doings from Him and from others. We put on masks and cover up our flaws. But if we are willing to STOP doing that, God can peel it all back to reveal a freshness, a wholeness, a perfectness that we would never do for ourselves. And I was reminded to SHINE for Him.

 “Thank You Lord for making me new and for helping me to Shine for You.”

 For His Glory,

 Laurel Shaler (www.drlaurelshaler.com)
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