Let’s imagine a crazy scene…
Imagine a tourist who goes on a trip to the Vatican. And while walking through St. Peter’s Baslica,the church of the Pope, he oohed and aahed at everything he saw. Especially when he saw the most popular sculpture in the world—The Pieta.
As he gazed at this particular statue, he didn’t realize that it was already evening. All of a sudden, he heard the giant doors of the church close. Immediately, the lights went out. And he discovered he was the only one inside. He got afraid and was about to run towards the doors when the unthinkable happened…
The Pieta spoke up! The statue said, “Don’t worry, in ten minutes, another guard will be walking around…”
Of course, the man wanted to run away. But his curiosity was stronger than his fear. So he asked, “Who…who…who are you? Are… are… are you Mother Mary?”
The sculpture spoke, “Nah, of course not. I’m just the statue. I’m The Pieta.”
Inexplicably, the man calmed down and said, “You’re an incredible work of art. You’re so beautiful…”
The statue said, “Would you believe? Once upon a time, I wasn’t beautiful at all. Once upon a time, no one wanted to look at me.”
“You’ve got to be kidding!” the tourist asked.
“Once upon a time, I was an ugly block of stone. I was in an old warehouse, together with other ugly-looking blocks of marble. We had no shape. We had no distinctions. We were nobodies.”
“And then what happened?” the man asked.
“Well, one fateful day, a young man walked in the warehouse. And this 25-year old kid looked at me in a queer way. Like he saw something in me. While everyone else saw marble, he saw a masterpiece. He walked around me, looking at me from different angles. He kept gazing, observing, studying me, it was unnerving. Finally, he asked a few men to carry me into his house. And that’s when the torture began…”
“What do you mean?” asked the tourist.
“Well, I learned that this guy’s name was Michaelangelo. And he started drawing pencil marks on me. Thousands of pencil marks. And it was slightly painful. More importantly, I felt violated! But then he put his pencil down and he picked up a metal stick… with a sharp point at the end. I cringed. I asked myself, “What is he going to do with that thing?” Somehow, I knew this wasn’t going to be good. That was when he placed that metal thing on me—and then I saw him holding a hammer in his other hand! I froze in terror. And WHAM! The pain was horrendous. What shook me was seeing little pieces of me on the floor. This Michaelangelo was a violent lunatic! But I didn’t know he was just starting his work. I didn’t know it was the first of many, many blows…”
“How many?” the tourist asked.
The Pieta said, “Tens of thousands of blows. Probably more. I lost count. All I knew was that those blows lasted for 8 long years.”
“My goodness!”
“But finally, the chiseling stopped in 1499. And lo and behold, I was beautiful. And I’ve been beautiful these past 500 years….”
The tourist said, “And the most wanted, most valuable, most famous sculpture in the entire history of the world.”
Suddenly, the security guard opened the massive doors of the church and saw him. “Oh, you’re still inside? Sorry about that…”
“Not at all. I was able to spend quality time withThe Pieta…”
The guard nodded. “Yep, it’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“More than I ever imagined,” the tourist smiled.
You’re God’s Masterpiece
Michaelangelo said that when he makes a marble statue, his role is to simply “liberate” the masterpiece that is trapped inside the marble.
Friend, you are that marble, God is the Sculptor, and He is creating a masterpiece out of you.
When God sees you, He just doesn’t see you as you are now. Like a sculptor that gazes upon a block of marble, He already sees your beauty and glory and wonder trapped inside you. God’s role is to liberate the masterpiece in you!
God’s Chisel
And do you know what is the chosen chisel of God?
Pain.
I do not know what your pain is right now.
Perhaps your pain comes from your family. Or from a lingering sickness. Or from a strained relationship. Or from a mountain of debt. Or from difficult people in your life.
God says, “The beautiful YOU is already inside you. And I allow pain in your life to bring that beauty out of you.”
Think about it. Aren’t these two things very different?
Yet they’re essentially the same thing.
In my life, God has done MORE through my struggles than through my successes. If you study my successes, you’ll see that it’s made up of raw ingredients coming from my struggles.
My struggles became the pathway to my successes.
Are you in pain? Are you struggling now?
Don’t EVER give up.
May your dreams come true,
Bo Sanchez
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