How are great things done? Are they easy or hard to accomplish? Usually, great things take time and effort, but they are attainable. They are accomplished, one step at a time.

Michelangelo worked on the Sistine Chapel one picture at a time. It took him five years to finish the 343 painted figures on the ceiling. He finished, yes, after years of work. The Chapel was such a great masterpiece when he completed it, but can you imagine looking at the blank walls before a single stroke was made and picturing the finished work? Seeing at the start, before a single picture was painted, the massive amount of work ahead, but the beauty that could be achieved. It must have been overwhelming to realize all the work and effort that would be required. Perhaps Michelangelo felt it would take nearly a lifetime to complete. But it didn’t. Yet no matter the effort it required, the countless hours he and his helpers had to lie on their backs to paint, stand to paint, sit to paint, for him it was worth it all. Why? Because seeing the finished masterpiece he envisioned in his mind before he started painting come to life was a feeling like no other. Completing this work was a great thing, and many visit and marvel at his ornately beautiful painted chapel ceiling today.

Great things are done by dreamers who look at the blank canvas and see the masterpiece in their mind. They are willing to spend their life, if necessary, working to see that masterpiece become a reality. The person who observes the completed masterpiece never really understands the effort that it took to create it, but they do appreciate the beauty and the detail of the work.

God is creating a masterpiece in us; this masterpiece will take a lifetime, our whole lifetime to complete. Yet He works tirelessly in each of us to make us new, to see His promises fully realized in us. He asks us to participate as well and to build His Kingdom. It is no small task; it will not be quick and easy. It is hard and will take multiple lifetimes, your whole life and the life of every other believer working alongside you to build His kingdom. We must picture the masterpiece of His marvelous Kingdom in our mind. We must strive so that the mental picture can become a reality. And there will be no greater masterpiece than God’s redemptive love drawing, cleaning, and making new those who were once His enemies. There is not a painting, a building, or even a Chapel that can compare to the masterpiece which He is creating in you, for you, and through you one step at a time, one section at a time, one small piece at a time. Just as all other great things are done, it will take time and effort.

Do you know that you truly are God’s masterpiece? The best part is He promised to complete the work in you. Can you see it? Can you envision what He sees when He looks at you? He sees you, His precious masterpiece.

Scripture: Ephesians 2:10