A picture speaks a thousand words

Anyone that knows me personally, knows that I love art. I studied art history in college and the one and only thing on my bucket list is to someday go to Italy and stand in the middle of the Sistine Chapel and look up at the ceiling painted by Michelangelo. When I was younger I thought it would be really romantic to be standing in that very spot, in the middle of the Sistine Chapel, looking up at those beautiful pieces of artwork, and have someone propose to me. Oh, the dreams we have when we are young...

Michelangelo was an amazing man. He was 33 years old when he started painting the Sistine Chapel. When the Pope hired him to paint the Sistine Chapel, he didn’t hire him because he was a famous painter, he hired him because his competitors wanted him to fail at something and they convinced the Pope that if he had one epic fail he would leave town and they would get hired for all the big jobs. Up until that point, Michelangelo had only done sculpture and was a famous architect. Most people don’t realize that Rome and Florence are filled with his architectural designs. His architectural creations still stand today and are part of what makes those cities beautiful.

Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel to prove a point. To make sure everyone knew that he was there to stay, that no one was going to manipulate him into leaving. I admire his moxie. I respect him for taking four years out of his life to paint the chapel, when he could have easily said - hire someone else, because this isn’t what I want to do anyway. Part of me can’t help but think that he not only wanted to prove to them that he could do it, but he wanted to prove to himself that he could do it. Or… Maybe that’s just how I would have done it.

Sometimes I feel that way in my walk with Christ. Some days I feel like it would just be easier if I would just say, “No, I think I’ll let somebody else do it today, I just don’t want to.” But then I realize that I’m not going to let the enemy manipulate me and I have more moxie than that. My walk with Jesus is a conscious decision, not a 'whatever I feel like today' life. I know what life is like without Him and I'll take this one, thank you very much. And like Michelangelo, I will not let the enemy bully me into submission, for I have the Lord on my side. (And He always wins.)

Psalm 31:14-15 ESV

But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!