IN HIS HANDS

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Over a hundred years ago, a group of fishermen were relaxing in the dining room of a Scottish seaside inn, trading fish stores. One of the men gestured widely, depicting the size of a fish that got away. His arm struck the serving maid’s tea tray, sending the teapot flying into the whitewashed wall, where its contents left an irregular brown splotch.

The innkeeper surveyed the damage and sighed, “The whole wall will have to be repainted.”

“Perhaps not,” offered a stranger. “Let me work with it.”

Having nothing to lose, the proprietor consented. The man pulled pencils, brushes, some jars of linseed oil, and pigment out of an art box. He sketched lines around the stains and dabbed shades and colors throughout the splash of teas. In time, an image began to emerge: a stag with a great rack of antlers. The man inscribed his signature at the bottom, paid for his meal, and left. His name: Sir Edwin Landseer, famous painter of wildlife.

In his hands, a mistake became a masterpiece.

God’s hands do the same, over and over. He draws together the disjointed blotches in our life and renders them an expression of his love. We become pictures: “examples of the incredible wealth of his favor and kindness toward us” (Eph.2:7)

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(Max Lucado told this story in his splendid book, Come Thirsty. He gave credit for the story to Ron Lee Davis and James D. Denny and their book, Mistreated. I now give credit to Max, Ron and James.)