Through a Foggy Window

Come on, admit it; we've all been there. Driving in the car on a cold, dreary day, the foggy windows beckon to you and you just can't restrain your fingers from etching great pieces of art into the cool, moist surface. The world outside is obscure, hidden strangely enough behind a vapor of tiny water droplets clinging to a piece of glass.

Have you ever looked at your future the same way? a clean, spacious glass canvas that you just itch to write all over? We draw our own plans and dreams in the clouds, and we trust in our own artistic abilities to paint a beautiful picture. But we all know what inevitably happens, no matter how perfectly or beautifully you plan your picture. Before you scarcely have time to admire your handiwork, a single, heavy droplet of water runs down the smooth glass, ruining your picture in its tiny wake. More droplets fall, destroying what once seemed perfect to you. A strange thing happens, though. Have you ever noticed that those tiny rivers shredding your artwork to bits actually allow you to see through the glass clearly? My own efforts at "art" seem very clumsy and cheesy when I have a chance to observe the colorful, 3-dimensional, magnificent and real work of the Creator.

Quickly, the glass fogs up again, offering the same itchy temptation to draw our own pictures once again. I have fallen into the trap many times. My thinking becomes clouded by my own desires, and I attempt to draw my own future. Sometimes it takes God sending a destructive drop of water through our "perfect" plans so that we can see clearly the picture He has already drawn for us. It's just a glimpse, but we can trust Him since we know that His artwork is so much more magnificent than ours. My desire to have control over my own future can leave me blinded, thinking I have something great when really I'm settling for so much less than what God has the ability to give to me.

I pray that I will always be open to see beyond my ruined picture, and joyfully accept God's gentle and serene (yet irritating) interruptions to give me a glimpse at the Real Picture.