Painting is no fun, not to me anyway. However, painting is full of life lessons. I had to do a little drywall patchwork in a room at my house recently. I did the patchwork and put on a coat of paint. It looked awful. You could see all the blemishes and imperfections of my patchwork. I thought, “Goodness I need to improve my drywall skills!” I put another coat on, and the wall looked much better. Then I put on a third coat. The more paint I added, the better the wall looked. You could hardly see any of the wall’s imperfections.

All of a sudden God reminded me of something. Our lives are like that wall. We are full of blemishes and imperfections, especially when we first come to know Christ. When people first get saved we expect them to be mature in the faith, but they are still babes in Christ. God has just put on the first coat of paint. It takes time to grow in the faith. It takes time to be like Christ. It takes time to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. In time, a second coat of paint is added, then a third and fourth. Before you know it, the person looks more and more like Christ.

God is actively at work in our lives. He uses trials, tribulations, people, and the spiritual disciplines to add more and more coats of paint. No one will ever be perfect. We will never be without imperfections, but the more we grow in the faith, the more our lives will shine for Jesus. God is creating a masterpiece, but it takes time. I am reminded of a song I sang as a child, “It took Him just week to make the moon and the stars, the sun and the earth, and Jupiter and Mars. How loving and patient He must be, He’s still working on me.” We could add, “He’s still painting on me!” Let’s all strive to be like Jesus, but let’s also be patient with one another. We are all still a work in progress.