Blank Canvas It’s Necessary

Blank Canvas

It’s Necessary

Jeremiah 29:11

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope.”

Okay!

Here we go again.

As I was getting ready for bed—not sleepy at all—a blog title hit me like a ton of bricks: Blank Canvas.

At that moment, I thought to myself, Lord, this is going to take a while to write. Yet deep in my spirit, I sensed God saying, “It’s necessary.”

So guess what I did?

I yielded.

I picked up my phone in the dark and began typing.

BLANK CANVAS.

Isn’t this exactly how God desires us to position our hearts before Him?

As yielded vessels.

Yielded to His will.

Yielded to His purpose.

Yielded to His plan.

Yielded to the Kingdom of God.

Yet if we’re honest, many of us struggle with the price of yielding. We want God’s promises, but we often wrestle with God’s process.

Yielding to God is presenting Him with our blank canvas called submission.

It is saying:

“Lord, I trust You enough to let You write the story.”

Submission and trusting the process go hand in hand. You cannot truly have one without the other.

Your submission says:

“God, I trust You whether this season feels good or not.”

“I trust You whether I understand what You’re doing or not.”

“I trust You when the process is uncomfortable, painful, and stretching me beyond what I thought I could bear.”

I can honestly testify that submitting to God’s process in my life right now has not been easy.

Some days I want to throw my hands up and say, “Lord, I’m done.”

I work hard.

I pray.

I keep showing up.

Yet sometimes the harder I work, the harder it feels to submit.

Now someone may say, “But you’re still showing up, so you’re submitting.”

I respectfully disagree.

Showing up does not always mean you’re submitted.

Submission is deeper than attendance.

Submission is surrender.

Submission is not talking back to God because you think you know better.

Submission is not constantly looking for an escape route.

Submission is not trying to control the outcome.

Submission is not saying “yes” with your mouth while saying “no” in your heart.

No, it isn’t easy.

But it is necessary.

Some seasons seem to move at a snail’s pace. Day after day. Minute by minute. You keep wondering when the chapter will finally end.

Yet God whispers:

“Let Me write on your canvas.”

“It will be well.”

“It will not always be like this.”

Somewhere along the way, I gave God a sincere yes.

And now He is writing on my blank canvas, shaping me, molding me, and preparing me for the future He has already planned.

Yes, it hurts.

Yes, it stretches.

Yes, it requires patience.

But we must learn to say:

“Lord, write on my canvas. I am a submitted vessel.”

Because this chapter of your life will only happen once.

This moment.

This process.

This stretching season.

This is the part of the story where history is being made between you and God.

Joseph: A Blank Canvas

As I thought about someone in Scripture who became a blank canvas before God, Joseph immediately came to mind.

Joseph was given a dream, but he was never given all the details.

God showed him the destination but not the journey.

His journey led him through twists, turns, disappointments, betrayals, and years of waiting.

His brothers threw him into a pit.

He was sold into slavery.

He was falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife.

He was thrown into prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

None of it felt like God’s promise.

Yet Joseph continued to yield.

He continued to trust.

He continued to let God write on his canvas.

Years later, standing before the very brothers who betrayed him, Joseph declared:

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

— Genesis 50:20

What a powerful testimony.

Joseph’s blank canvas took him from the pit, to the prison, and finally to the palace.

Did he enjoy being betrayed? No.

Did he enjoy being lied on? No.

Did he enjoy being forgotten in prison? Absolutely not.

But every painful stroke on the canvas was being used by God to create a masterpiece.

And when Joseph finally reached his appointed season, he reaped a harvest far greater than he could have imagined.

He became second in command of Egypt.

He saved nations from famine.

He preserved his family.

And God’s promise came to pass.

Joseph’s story reminds us that God knows exactly what He is doing, even when we don’t.

Closing

When was the last time you gave God a real yes?

Not a partial yes.

Not a conditional yes.

Not a yes with strings attached.

But a sincere yes.

A yes that says:

“God, I trust You even when I don’t understand.”

“God, I trust You when the process hurts.”

“God, I trust You when nothing seems to be changing.”

God does not need your help writing on your canvas.

He simply needs your surrender.

I know it’s scary.

I know it’s uncomfortable.

I know it’s out of your hands.

I know submission isn’t always easy.

But know this:

If you place your blank canvas into the hands of the Master Artist, He will create something beautiful.

And according to Jeremiah 29:11, it will lead you to a future filled with hope, purpose, and an expected end.

So today, give God your blank canvas.

And let Him write.“Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” — Philippians 1:6