Put down your oil canvas painting, and look to Your God instead!

Last week I wrote about how sometimes hearing from God can feel like, it can be grappling with smoke.
Or to put it another way. It can feel like I’m trying to view a smoke picture.

If it is my Lord God’s smoke picture that He is showing to me, then that’s always going to be better than any canvas oil painting that I can make up.

The problem that I can sometimes fall into is, that I can partly hear a truth, that my Lord God is telling me. Then I take this (partial) truth, go off and metaphorically pick up my oil paints and then make a wonderful oil canvas painting (wonderful in my own eyes).

This is where it can get a bit “Oh dear.”
This is where I can possibly have something with a partial truth of God to it, but with too much of me included in it as well.

Hence the title of this post, “Put down your oil canvas painting, and look to Your God instead!”

Part of the problem with my oil canvas painting is that it can appear to be solid and substantial (in my eyes). But when compared to my Heavenly Fathers plans… , then it just seems rather silly and very much so incomplete. 🙂

I do know this to be true, but I still seem to like picking up the oil paints and …..

So how can I endeavour to put the oil painting down and look to Him instead?

Be aware that I can get things wrong, is possibly the first step.
Keep asking, “Is this me getting it wrong or is this of You, Lord?”
Do my thoughts line up with what the bible says? (I do mean what the bible is telling me and not the other way around. 🙂 )
I can even share my thoughts with others and ask them what they think. I do believe that fellowship is the technical name for that one. 🙂

I’ve just re-read the above paragraph, and to me it reads like a longer version of “prayer, word and fellowship.”
Prayer, asking Our Lord God for His input.
Word, checking what we are thinking lines up with the bible.
Fellowship, sharing with others to seek out the truth.

Putting into practice the three legged stool concept of prayer, word and fellowship is always going to be a good practice.

Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

So when it comes down to it, are we able to put our oil canvas painting down? Turn our back to it and then sit at Our Lord God’s feet and then wait for Him to share with us what His thoughts are?
It will work out so much better for us if we can seek His thoughts, in place of our own.

Romans 12:2
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.