Bob Ross

 

Back in the 80’s. when nothing else was on TV on Saturday morning, I would watch Bob Ross in “The joy of Painting”.  He would begin with a blank canvas and splash one corner with a light blue color, another corner with a dark blue, and then green and pale blue to finish off the bottom half.  I had no idea where he was going.  Then he would fill in a few strokes with a wide brush, blend it in, and add some details and a cloud would appear.  And after some angled strokes of various shades of blue, a mountain would come into view.  Bob knew exactly what he was doing, but his audience (including me) were surprised as his subjects materialized.  And God is the same way.  We may have plans for the future, but our canvas is unknown to us just a few weeks away.  And we can see things unfold in the pages of the Bible just as Bob Ross’s paintings would unfold.  The little girl whose parents were killed by the Syrians and was dragged off to Damascus as a slave had no idea that she would be instrumental in saving Naaman’s life and leading him to faith in the living God.  Joseph was abused by his brothers and sold as a slave into Egypt.  He was faithful to God but betrayed over and over again before his purpose in life was revealed.  After murdering an Egyptian, forty-year-old Moses ran for his life and hid in the desert for another forty years.  God spoke to him and use him to lead the nation of Israel into the Promised land.  Moses was aimless for eighty years before God’s plan was revealed to him.  Hey, God has a plan for you!  Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”  God will lead you, but you must follow.  Trust Him.  The dear Lord will never mislead you.