I love going for a drive along California’s Sonoma Coastline section of Highway One, from Bodega Bay, north toward Jenner-by-the-Sea. Rick and I pull off at Regional Parks and beaches along the way to watch and listen to the pounding surf. It is both comforting and frightening in its power. The sound of waves stroking a beach can make me drowsy. That same surf can, over time, slice away earth and rock, shift tons of sand, reshape the coastline.
As the road winds north, we pass lines of cypress trees, straight and tall, planted along narrow byways that head up into the hills. One line of cypress trees across from a beach has received the wind. That wind has shaped them into a visual masterpiece, evidence of the invisible force that has worked on them.
Those trees remind me of the working of the Holy Spirit. When we accept Jesus, He sends the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. God begins to reshape our lives from the inside out. Under His mighty hand, in His time and according to His plan, we each become a masterpiece.
We don’t always feel the Spirit at work within us or even recognize the process as it goes on. But others witness the change in us. Sometimes the change comes quickly. Sometimes it takes years.
Rest assured. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, His Spirit is within you and at work on you right now. You are becoming a masterpiece.