A Beginning

"For we are God's masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10


Prepared in advance.


When I think about how God knew, in the very beginning, what all He had in store for my life, I'm just floored. 


And I begin to see the fuzzy outline of the grand mosaic of His story, of history, in which I am a small, gleaming stone, a miniscule but lovingly integrated fragment.


And I catch my breath and think, "Wow, God...this isn't really a beginning, then, is it?"


The fact is, that every moment of my life has led up to this moment. Our lives are not a string of unrelated events, like beads on a necklace, but a masterpiece, Christ's workmanship, He says. It's a brilliant, epic painting, on a grander scale than anything you or I could wrap our brains around. Like a thousand Sistine Chapels upon Sistine Chapels, and then some.


The truth is, this trip to India is a continuation, not the beginning of God's work in me. Something seems to be clearing up and I'm seeing, through the haze, a little bit more of His masterpiece being unveiled to me. There was so much leading up to this, and so much yet to come. I quiver with the excitement of it. 


I remember when I was in third grade and got glasses. If you have glasses, do you remember getting them? Do you remember how the second you put them on, you suddenly realized that you had had no idea what all you were missing? What you had thought was clear wasn't clear. It was never clear. And all of a sudden the world shown in a new light. Do you remember that feeling, the feeling of a newly discovered sight? 


That's how I'm feeling now. My individual experiences, joys, sorrows, and songs have led to this moment, this embarkment. That means that God has prepared me, has enabled me, has ordained me by the power of His holy spirit, and I'm not going it alone. 


For you and I are His masterpiece, created in Him to do good works which He prepared in advance for us to do. 


I'm so ready for the next leg of the journey, the adventure of following Him, of running after Him, the most thrilling thing I've yet to come to know.