I enjoy doodling. Today, as I allowed my hand to move freely across the page, weaving lines and shapes, I created some stray marks. This meditative art form has no mistakes, only opportunities to reimagine or reinterpret the drawing. I incorporated those stray marks into the next part of the doodling design, which some might have seen as an error transformed into a new feature.
Reflecting on my day, I thought about the connections between doodling and our spiritual growth. How often do we view our missteps, stumbles, and struggles as failures? We tend to criticize ourselves quickly, often labeling our efforts insufficient or flawed. How can God possibly love us if we continue to grapple with our challenges?
God’s Redemptive Work in Our Lives
Scripture reminds us again and again that God is a master artist.
“Still, Eternal One, You are our Father. We are just clay, and You are the potter. We are the product of Your creative action, shaped and formed into something of worth.” Isaiah 64:8, The Voice
We may feel like we’ve marred the masterpiece when we falter or fail. Yet God takes every line of our lives, even those we’d rather erase, and weaves them into something beautiful.
Romans 8:28 (The Voice) is a reassuring favorite verse.
“We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan.”
That “all things” includes our perceived mistakes. The broken relationships, the missed opportunities, the moments of doubt—none of these are outside His ability to redeem. In God’s hands, what looks like a scribble to us becomes an integral part of a greater work. We can be confident that God works in all the circumstances of our lives to accomplish his good purpose for us. This is one of the great promises of Scripture.
Embracing Grace and Growth
Instead of dwelling on our shortcomings, we can embrace the grace that allows us to grow.
First, we can release ourselves from the tyranny of perfectionism. Perfection isn’t the goal of spiritual growth; transformation is. John Ortberg says trying to achieve perfection is like trying to catch the wind. Our journey is ongoing, and every step—even the missteps—is part of the process.
Second, we can embrace grace. Just like a stray line in a Zentangle becomes part of the overall design, our imperfections should not be seen as obstacles to God’s plan; instead, they are opportunities for His grace to shine. As 2 Corinthians 12:9 states, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Viewing our lives through this perspective allows us to appreciate even our most challenging experiences.
Last, we can practice surrender. Trust that God’s perspective is far greater than ours. What we perceive as chaos or failure might be the very texture needed to complete the picture. Proverbs 3:5-6 encourages us to “trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Now, you might be thinking, doesn’t this mean we can sin all we want, ignore our failures, and God will bring good out of it all? As a dear pastor once said, a beloved child of God sins more than he wants. When we surrender our lives to God, He gives us a new heart that is moved to please Him. Our desires are being transformed.
Grace is not a license to sin; it is a license to allow the Spirit of God to work in us to bring about the transformation He desires.
Living the Lesson
I am always surprised when I finish doodling at how the design evolves.
Similarly, when we trust God with our lives, He creates a design far more beautiful than anything we could imagine.
So, pause the next time you feel like you’ve messed up. Surrender the stray lines of your life to Him and allow Him to do His redemptive work in it. Philippians 1:6 (The Voice) reminds us that “I am confident that the Creator, who has begun such a great work among you, will not stop in mid-design but will keep perfecting you until the day Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King, returns to redeem the world.”
This post also published on Substack.
