At a car shop some days ago, I sat on the left side of a beautiful woman dressed nicely, as I waited to get some oil in my Honda. My three little musketeers were with me chatting away loudly, not caring much about the people at the shop, lost in their own world of pretend play, each one of them pretending to be a hero from the PJ Masks world.

She was telling me how charming my kiddos were. Then she told me a bit of a story. How she had three kids herself, only that they were now in their forties. She had six grandkids now, she said. I was taken aback really. I confessed to her that she looked nothing like her age.

“It flies by fast,” she replied.

“Everyone says that,” I answered.

But the truth is when we’re in the tiny space of a nanosecond, experiencing that short moment in time, we often tend to forget that we are investing in the future. It was a good reminder for me to know that 10 years from now, I will be looking back at my “Masterpiece.”

I have been around a lot of mothers, and I have seen the strength, the tears, and the laughter. I have seen much hope, but I have also seen hopelessness and fear, sometimes all these emotions are stacked one on top the other inside the same human being. A mix of feelings. Triumph and defeat. Victory and loss. Happiness and solemness. Acceptance and rejection. Faith and lack of faith.

I am certain that you’ve heard recent talks about mental health awareness. Very normal people can harbor a mix of emotions.

But we don’t have to let defeat take over. I have seen God do the impossible in my life when there seemed to be no way. I am sure you can confirm that, if you think back on your life’s story, you’ll find that some things you thought were too hard for you to accomplish, you achieved them eventually.

Life is like a marathon, you have to keep going strong to finish the race because if you give up, you will not have a testimony of success.

But today’s post is about 10 years from now. Have you ever been transported to the future? And if you have (in your mind), have you ever looked back at your masterpiece?

Friend, I am telling you right now that someday you will have a masterpiece because you are in the process of creating one right now.

You may not realize it yet, but right now, you are standing in front of an easel with a paintbrush in your hand and a paint bucket at your feet. With every choice you make, you are painting an image. You are raising your hands and making beautiful and sometimes ugly swirls on the easel. You are choosing between primary colors and gently coupling them to create secondary and tertiary colors.

Every choice we make is important.

We have a lot of boxes to check daily. Our days are monitored by To-Dos and To-Buy Lists. Our homes are filled with sounds of laughter and screams of joy. And we often forget to stop and reflect on the purpose of why we are HERE. Today’s post is to make you stop. Pause. Reflect. Because 10 years from now, you will be looking back at this masterpiece.

Let me give you an example, if you have a child right now and it seems like you are making a billion trillion sacrifices, I want to remind you that you will see the fruits of your labor years from now. NOT today!

So it may seem like a little bit of a mess right now, but you are creating a masterpiece. God has the ‘vantage point’ because He is on the mountain top and you may be in the valley. He has seen everything — the paths before you and the ones you have already trodden. And most importantly, He sees you right now as you splash the paint across the easel.

So when faced with a choice (maybe the very minute after reading this), what will you decide? Let me give you a single idea.

Go against the norm if it’s a choice led by God’s spirit

Nobody wants to hear this. Be different, and you will get a stare-down. But the woman with the alabaster box, she went against the norm when she broke that vase and anointed the feet of Jesus.

The fact is you are “called out.”

1 Peter 2:9 says, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

So it really doesn’t benefit you as a child of God to try to fit in.

If the Holy Spirit is leading you in a certain direction, please don’t shy away from it. That’s where your masterpiece lies. God’s plans are perfect!

10 years from now, you will look back at your masterpiece. And I pray you will be thankful that you trusted God today for your tomorrow.

Trust Him today. Trust Him for triumph and NOT defeat. For victory and NOT loss. Trust Him for every step and every radical decision you make (that is Holy Spirit-led of course).

Today, I just want to use this opportunity to cheer you on for the Godly choices you are about to make!!! Be bold. Be unique. Go forth!