The Angel in the MArble
“I saw the Angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”— Michelangelo
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.—Jeremiah 1:5
I love the Michelangelo quote, though he said it less poetically. But it distilled over the ages and internet into this meme-worthy quote. It recently caught my attention. As a lovely word portrait of God, I can visualize the abstract: the transformative work he began in me before I was born. One picture is worth a thousand words, right?
Michelangelo's sculptures took time to carve but left a legacy that endures into our time. The Pieta took him two years. His David took three. The French sculptor Rodin toiled thirty-seven years on a project but died before its completion. The Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota, a colossal mountain carving in progress, began in 1948. Seventy-seven years later, it’s still being shaped.
You are God’s workmanship, begun before you were born, and a spiritual journey will last your lifetime, and into eternity.
Artists pursue their vocation over time and with patience. They aspire to create art that will provoke thought, open perception, reveal mysteries, and nourish with beauty. Issues of talent, technique, scale, sickness, war, and funding present constant obstacles and complexities for most artists. Yet they persevere, because they were wired for such a life. They release their visions at the appointed hour, when they finally declare a work “finished.”
The Tap of the Chisel
Like angels in the marble, beauty can be hidden and take years to appear. Whether in art, writing, or spiritual life, mystery awaits us. Sometimes we dig it out; other times, God reveals (Proverbs 25:2; Daniel 2:47). Though we have challenges, we are not challenges for God to fix—we are his workmanship, his handiwork, his poem (Ephesians 2:10). Works in progress until he releases the image and Spirit of Jesus in us. While we are on this earth, our creator and lifelong sculptor, he is always tapping, sculpting, shaping, and molding us to that end.
Michelangelo needed years to release the angel in the marble. Our Divine Artist takes his time and our lifetimes to release the imago dei in us. Be patient with yourself. He is the potter; we are the clay. We are all the work of his hand (Isaiah 64:8).
God completes what he starts (Philippians 1:6). Wait for the day he declares, “Finished!”
If you’d like a free, printable, downloadable PDF to remind you of these truths, click here.