Perspective

The other day I entered a beautiful room inside the temple that had original artwork hung on the wall.  The only chair available for me to sit in was right up against the wall.  I glanced over at the wall and realized I was sitting very close to one of the paintings.  I was up so close that I could see the brush strokes on a small corner of the painting, but I could not see the painting in it's entirety.  Honestly,  sitting up that close, the part of the painting I could see kind of looked like a brown mess.  The brush strokes almost seemed chaotic and meaningless.  Later as I left the room I was able to view the painting from further away.  The painting was of a beautiful landscape.  The brown mess was actually a part of a mountain scene.

I realized that if that "messy part" had been missing the entire painting would have been ruined.  From further away it did not look like a mess at all but was very beautiful.  I realized the artist had known more than I on how to put together the colors and brush strokes to make beautiful artwork.

Sometimes our lives can feel a bit "messy" or "chaotic."  We may wonder why we have to experience certain difficulties or trials that make life hard.  We need to realize that Heavenly Father is the master artist and is putting together our lives in a way that will create the most beauty.  We may just be "sitting up too close" to be able to see with proper perspective.  Someday we will be able to stand back and see how all the pieces of our lives were put together to make a beautiful masterpiece.