Lately I’ve been thinking about the art of surrender. It’s so difficult to surrender ourselves in faith without seeing the whole picture. But just like the painter and the sculptor, we must have faith in something beautiful on the other side.

Without faith, we would have no art, no growth, no relationship with our Creator. Without faith we would have no means to surrender. When we surrender, it’s more than an act; it’s actually an art. While it’s not a traditional visual medium like a painting or sculpture, it fits the broader definition of an art as a specialized skill learned through practice and mastery. So what is it that facilitates this often times elusive state? It’s faith. Faith is what it takes to truly surrender.

This picture I painted of Sassy, like all of my work, was created not really knowing how it would turn out. But it’s the faith we as artists must have that will enable us to surrender to wherever the brush takes us. We press the paint brush to the canvas in the belief that we will end up with something beautiful, yet we surrender to the possibility that we could end up with something that gets tossed in the trash. What’s unique about this piece is the fact that you can only see half of Sassy’s face. You have to make an assumption about the rest of her. The thing about an assumption, it’s a choice, a choice that comes alongside the possibility of being wrong. No one wants to be wrong, but both sides—belief and unbelief—both leave you with a choice you must make, and regardless of which side you take, you must choose without seeing the whole picture.

Even more than it is an art, a skill we learn to master, surrender is a choice; faith is a choice. Today I want to encourage you to choose faith. Choose it because there’s peace on the other side.

Just like this canvas, we often only get a partial view of our circumstances, God’s plan, or even God Himself. Yet we are called to have expectant eyes fixed on Him. We are called to surrender to a faith in something we cannot see.

For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

“Not By Sight” is inspired by the gift of faith and the art of surrender. Faith is a gift, a gift we give not only to God but to ourselves. When we live by faith and not by sight, we are able to surrender. And it’s in this quiet, humble, yet incredibly powerful surrender, we can know true peace.

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Just like the artist,

move without doubt,

paying no mind

to how it’ll turn out.

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When we stop looking ahead,

our strivings will cease.

Finally we’re able

to experience God’s peace.

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We walk in surrender

to a destination unknown.

God plans our steps

by the grace He’s shown.

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Though hard to see

in the dark of night,

we walk by faith

and not by sight.