Paintings

It was a peaceful, quiet afternoon, with sunlight streaming in through the windows. He was seated in front of his canvas, a sturdy brush in his hand, painting strokes of colours onto it. Purple, orange, yellow for the sunset, grey and green for the rocks, saphhire blue for the sea, and white, for the crest of the waves as they hit against the jagged edges of the rocks.

"You can't just have blue for the sea, you know. It just doesn't happen that way."
"How should it be then?"
"Look at the sunset. I've painted it with purple, orange and yellow. And that's how the sea should look like, a little bit of the sunset on the sea, because it reflects the sky. Don't you think so?" He smiled, pausing with the brush still in his hand.
"Now what do you think of the rocks?" He made his way to the back of the room, and surveyed his artwork.
"Maybe a little green over that side. Hmmm." He said thoughtfully.
"Why do you have to go to the back to look at your painting?" I asked.

"It's to get another perspective...sometimes you can't get it right when you see it closed-up, but need to take a step back to look at the whole picture, and then go on from there. You see where you need to add more brushstrokes." He smiled, and said " Now I think the rocks need some brown over there..."

Maybe that's what I have been doing- painting a picture too closed-up, adding colours from my own palette, without taking a step back to see the bigger picture of what God has planned out for me. And in His subtle ways, he nudges me- this time to take a step back, to look at the canvas i'm working on again, and to continue painting.

And I am reminded of the rainbow in the sky, hung out like a colourful tapestry of promise, a reminder of His love:)