A
pleasant fall day. A family picnic at
Northside Park, Wheaton, Illinois. A
grandmother and aunt with easels set up, painting the lagoon. That was enough to instill an intense desire
in me to be one of the ones with an easel set up. I, too, was going to paint. But, like other childhood dreams, that one
receded into the background. It sometimes tried to force itself
forward. In recent years I insisted I
was going to make it true. I even bought
canvases and a paint box, filled with the tools I was going to need. But there it sat in my office closet. I think I was afraid to try because I was
afraid to fail. But when a friend a few
weeks ago said she was going to take lessons at a local gallery, I jumped
in. This time I would learn to
paint. Now, four weeks in, I’m doing all
right. I think I’ve got a decent start
on a painting and all the things I’ve learned over the years are coming
together.
I
have found that I don’t have to be perfect.
(Is there such a thing as perfection?)
Art is forgiving. My painting
doesn’t have to look exactly like that still life. I can change, add, or adjust. Each layer of paint will cover what is
underneath.
I
have started thinking about the concept of covering. What is covered and who is doing the
covering?
Me! I am trying to cover—my sins. I hate to admit that I am a wicked
sinner, so I try to cover my sins,
pretend that they don’t exist. I try to
convince myself of that lie and I try to put on a good front so that no one else
would believe such a horrid thing of me.
My attempts of covering are not successful. I know I have not hidden my sins from myself
or anyone else. It’s not even smart to try. “He who covers his sins will not prosper.”
Me again! I must confess my sins and ask for them to be
blotted out. “According to the multitude
of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and
cleanse me from my sin.” “Hide Your
face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.”
But God! “I have
blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your
sins.” “I, even I, am He who blots out
your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.” He has blotted out my sins for His own dear
sake. I have heard my grandmother say,
“I remember choosing to forget that.”
God Himself has chosen to forget.
I can trust that.
Paint may cover my
mistakes on the canvas, but only God can blot out my sins, can make me clean. Praise the Lord! My sins are blotted out.
~~Faith Himes Lamb
**Proverbs 28:13 **Psalm 51:9 **Isaiah 44:20
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