Is it the Will of God?- Part 1

OK so have you heard of Bob Ross?
If you haven't, look him up.
He's a gifted painter.

And while watching Bob Ross paint recently, (because hubby has been binge watching every season) I was mesmerized at the brilliant use of color and brush stroke that made every painting breathtakingly, reflectively, and simply beautiful. ( How's that for a long sentence?) 

 I was in prayer Wednesday morning,  focusing on seeking the Lord for direction for my family. The verse in proverbs was my motivation. I wanted to make sure we "acknowledged Him in all our ways, [that] He may direct our paths."
As I knelt at my chair, talking with my Father, a painting from Bob Ross begin to take shape in my mind's eye.
First there was the various shades and gradients of blues and whites, birthed from a whirlwind of broad brush strokes to form the backdrop.

Then Father spoke to me-
See how the magnificence of this background color formed? It was a masterful mixing of hues on the palette, a skillful retrieval of paint onto the brush- just so- , and a confident generous application of the paint onto the canvas. Though,it was not done with a fine brush but a broad one, though the strokes were not singular, but wide-spread, it produces a backdrop from which the rest of the story will emerge. 

broader brush for background*

These are the"normal"  happenings in our lives that create the backdrop for our unveiling stories. It's  our daily getting up and ready for work-whether inside or outside the home.It's the every day chores, general tasks, and the seemingly mundane responsibilities. God is not at this point worried about the type of toothpaste we choose, the grocery market we prefer, whether you wanted wintergreen or peppermint Altoids, or if the color of your car should be champagne or pearl. As long as it does not cause you to transgress, God can use you at that in-door office job or that  manual labor,construction job. Go ahead and make the choice that suits you best. You will not abandon his grace, and mess up his plans for your life because you chose one over the other. Like the broad brush strokes the painter uses for the background, there are parts of our lives that flow one into the other. God trusts us to choose what to do, without suffering anxiety about whether this be the Lord's will for our lives.

But what of the not-so-normal?

Continued in part 2:

*Image from www.ateliermagique.com