“Oooo… what a pretty snake,” I said as I looked down at my daughter’s drawing. She frowned and exclaimed, “No, Daddy, [it’s a] dog!”
We were sitting more or less patiently in the portrait studio’s lobby, waiting to have Christmas pictures made, and Micah had just discovered a new toy in their toychest: a Magna-Doodle. This fascinating evolution of the Etch-a-Sketch uses a magnet-tipped pen to draw on the screen. Then, with one swipe of a lever at the bottom, the picture is erased, thus allowing even two-year-olds to draw continuously until their heart’s content (usually about 12 seconds…).
As Micah sat drawing various curved lines (“elephant, Daddy!”), I was pondering upon some of the profound ideas that this little toy presented: How does this thing work?! Would it be worth it to open it up to see? Or just messy? Is it on sale at Wal-mart? Will this fit in Micah’s stocking?
Seriously, one thought did present itself as I watched Micah erase giraffe after giraffe. The erased picture is truly gone once the lever is swiped. There is no recall, no “restore” button. Only in our memories does it still exist. I was reminded of an amazing passage in Psalms:
God is sheer mercy and grace; Not easily angered, He’s rich in love. He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold, Nor hold grudges forever. He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve, Nor pay as back in full for our wrongs. As high as heaven is over the earth, So strong is His love to those who fear him. As far as sunrise is from sunset, He has separated us from our sins.
Psalm 103:8-12 (The Message)
Another translation says that God has removed our sins from us as far as east is to west. What an incredible thought! There is no limit to the distance between east and west. So in other words, God completely erases our sin. There is no recall, no “restore” button. In fact, God forgets our sin (Heb. 8:12). It unfortunately remains only in our own memories.
As we look to the start of a new year, I cannot think of a more comforting thought – that God can totally erase our mistakes and allow us to start off the new year fresh. No matter what we’ve done, or how badly we’ve drawn our lives, He is gracious and will forgive us if we repent and turn to Him.
The lesson of the Magna-Doodle doesn’t end there, however. Micah eventually grew tired of trying to imagine that her misshapen lines were actually pictures of Mickey Mouse. No matter how hard she tried, she simply hasn’t developed the skill to draw recognizable pictures, yet. So she handed the toy to her father and said, “Here, Daddy, draw Mickey.”
It wasn’t until a few days later that the profundity of this scene hit me. Micah knew that her pictures were not right. No matter how hard she tried or how many times she started over, she simply couldn’t draw it the way that she wanted. So, she gave the job over to her slightly-more-artistic father.
The lesson? Wiping the slate clean and gaining a fresh start is absolutely worthless if the flawed “artist” retakes control of the pen. Forgiveness is always available, but what God desires just as much as our repentance is our submission and obedience.
The problem that most of us face is that we hate giving up control. Even while we are drawing a mess in our lives, we resist letting the Master take over. But oh, what a picture the Creator can make when we allow Him to draw for us! Suddenly our lives begin to transform into what they were meant to be all along. Joy and hope spring up in unexpected places, and love begins to be our theme.
Something else begins to occur when we allow God to paint our life’s story. As I finished drawing the famed mouse for Micah, she excitedly began to capture all attention by squealing, “Look! Mickey!!!” (Trust me, Mickey wasn’t that great, but he was recognizable…) Mommy, Granna, Papa John, and even the photographer were made very aware that a mouse had been drawn. Likewise, when we submit to God and He begins to paint a masterpiece in our lives, others can’t help but take notice (and we can’t help but make Him known).
This coming year presents each of us with an opportunity. Will we continue to make a mess out of things, or will we repent and submit – allowing our Daddy to paint in us a beautiful picture of Christ that is certainly worth sharing?
