There is something fascinating about watching an artist paint.
If you arrive early, all you may see are scattered colours, rough brushstrokes and what appears to be a collection of mistakes. Some areas are dark. Others are unfinished. Nothing seems to fit together. If you judged the painting in that moment, you might wonder what the artist was trying to create.
But the artist is not worried.
The artist can already see what the observer cannot.
Life often feels much the same.
We judge our lives in the middle of the process. We see the disappointment, the unanswered prayers, the unexpected changes, the relationships that did not last, the opportunities that disappeared and the doors that closed without explanation.
And we wonder whether something has gone wrong.
Perhaps the unfinished appearance does not mean the story has been abandoned.
Perhaps we have simply entered the studio before the painting is complete.
One of the greatest lessons I have learned is that God rarely wastes a season. Difficult conversations can teach us wisdom. Disappointments can cultivate humility. Waiting can develop patience. Loss can remind us where our deepest security lies.
Even the seasons we would never have chosen can become part of what God is creating within us.
That does not make pain enjoyable.
It simply reminds us that pain is not always pointless.
The Apostle Paul describes us as God’s workmanship in Ephesians 2:10. Our lives are not merely a series of disconnected events. They are being shaped by the hands of a Creator whose perspective reaches far beyond our own.
When I look back over my life, I can now recognise brushstrokes that once felt like setbacks.
What looked like rejection became redirection.
What felt like loss became preparation.
What I thought was the end of one chapter became the beginning of another I could never have imagined.
Had I insisted on remaining where I was comfortable, I might never have discovered the purpose waiting beyond that comfort.
Whenever life feels unfinished, I remind myself of one simple truth:
The Artist is still painting.
The colours may not yet make sense. The canvas may still appear incomplete. But the One holding the brush has not abandoned His work.
So perhaps today is not the day to judge your story.
Perhaps today is simply another brushstroke.
And perhaps one day you will look back and realise that what felt like disorder was becoming part of something you could not yet see.
We cannot always recognise the meaning of a brushstroke while it is still being painted.
But unfinished does not mean forgotten.
Reflection
What season of your life once felt like a setback, but you can now see as preparation?
I’d love to hear your story in the comments.