George Powers Sr.: Earthquake for Sketching | my preference

Anyone who follows me on Facebook knows how much I love vulgar humor. Many of the memes I share include slightly quirky puns or cartoons. Amidst life’s seriousness and struggles, laughter is vital to maintaining some sense of sanity.

A cartoon I shared a while ago showed an earthquake in the Etch A Sketch art gallery. I don’t remember if it was from Gary Larson’s “The Far Side” or someone else, but all screens were blank after shaking. The viewer cannot help but wonder what great complex drawings existed before the great upheaval.

I remember playing one of these toys as a kid and often shaking it vigorously to erase my mistakes so I could start over in a new image. There seem to be many variations of Etch A Sketches today and some of them are very sophisticated. I even bet some of them come with an “earthquake protection” option to prevent a brother or sister from accidentally (or on purpose) destroying long hours of intense artwork. (This is not what happened to me).

As I contemplated this clever cartoon, it occurred to me how it illustrates a great spiritual truth. Before we meet Jesus, we all paint our lives in different ways. No matter how much time and effort we put in, glaring imperfections mar the artwork we’ve made, and in many cases, what we’ve created is a horrific mass of twisted and tangled lines.

Alas, instead of a single screen full of errors, our lives are like an art gallery full of sin and selfishness. Anyone who has been allowed to peruse the recesses in the museums of our minds in the past can easily notice our many failed attempts to get the drawings of our lives right.

Fortunately, there was an earthquake! When Jesus poured out his sinless blood on the cross of Calvary, he provided the seismic energy capable of wiping out all our faults and mistakes. His perfect sacrifice completely erases all our sins and provides us with a chance to make a fresh start with a clean slate.

Because of God’s boundless grace, there is not a single image from our past whose blood cannot delete it no matter how deeply engraved it is in our memory. I once visited someone who confessed that there was no sin they had not committed. This person was worried that God might not have enough forgiveness for all that was done. I guess we all feel this way sometimes. I assured that person then and all readers now of the truth of 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Note that the forgiveness of our sins offered in this verse depends on our acknowledgment of them. Unlike the Etch A Sketch screen that can’t resist being erased by a random earthquake, we must consciously choose to ask for God’s liberating grace. Looking at the rest of the Bible, there is an expectation to turn away from or repent of our sins as well. But as we take these important steps, we are assured of God’s merciful and exorbitant forgiveness not only for some of our sins, but for all our sins.

One of the most amazing aspects of this event is that during the earthquake, God gave us our own teacher to point our fingers as we redraw our lives in it. This divine helper is known as the Holy Spirit, and as we allow him to turn our handles, a beautiful picture emerges that is beyond our ability to paint or draw.

As we remember this childhood game, may it remind us of God’s power to shake our lives, erase our sins, and repaint something of the eternal beauty of his glory.

Peace be upon you George

George Powers is the Senior Pastor of the Church of Antioch and has authored 16 books including Blessings Volume 3 which is a collection of these essays. They are available at Four Star Printing, Shenandoah Stuff, and Fort Valley Nursery. He can be reached at www.georgebowersministries.com or [email protected].

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