God Has Double Vision

    What to do with this huge block of stone? It took months to cut it out and move it from the quarry to it’s current resting place. Now after two of the finest sculptures in the world attempted to make it look like something meaningful, they gave up. It was now thought to be flawed, useless, and an eyesore in the public square. It sat that way, unused, unfinished, unsightly, for nearly a hundred years.
    Then a young man, still a virtual nobody in the art world, saw something that others were unable to see, and believed in something that others had given up on. So at 26 years old, young Michelangelo set out to reinvigorate the massive project of turning this huge megaton block of stone into a breathtaking 17 foot statue of David, still recognized today by some as the greatest sculpture ever created.
    Michelangelo said this, "In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it."
    God sees you in a way that no one else is able, including yourself.
    I like to put it this way, "God has double vision."
    Yes, he sees you where you are. He knows what you are struggling with. He feels your pain, and is fully aware of the damage others have done to you. And he also knows all about your sin, and the self-created havoc that is weighing you down.
    But he sees far more than that. He looks beyond what appears to be an unused, unfinished, maybe even sometimes unsightly partially carved block of rock. He sees beyond all that to what he created you to be. He envisions you for what can be...and will be...if you let him take the hammer and chisel...let him shape you into HIS image. His dreams for you are better than your own. He envisions you to be what he, your designer and creator, intends you to be!
    All of us are flawed. We’ve all suffered wounds and sometimes feel like damaged goods. And the longer we remain in this state, the more settled we become in our view of self. But it didn’t matter to Michelangelo how long the block of marble sat in its unfinished and damaged condition. He saw the David that was inside. As soon as the public officials gave permission, as he said, “I set him free.”
    And that’s what God wants to do for you. Let him set you free! The hammer and chisel may be a bit painful for a time. But the end result is a masterpiece, a you that no one, including you, dreamed you could be.
    But God did. He has been seeing you that way all along. Let him set you free!