The Artist’s Palette

I liken it to a “parachute of words” falling from above and landing in my mind. It doesn’t happen often, which makes it more special. Here’s a most recent occurrence: My personal and spiritual growth is the palette from which I add color and beauty to my marriage. A beautiful wedding is fairly easy to create, especially when a wedding planner is on board. A beautiful marriage, however, one that will radiate for decades, requires ongoing artistic expression. The artist’s palette does not come prepackaged nor does it run on autopilot. The principle is one of “development and release.”

The ultimate Artist, of course, is God. All of creation gives proof: nature, the animal kingdom, stars, planets, and the wonderful miracle of the human body. It all comes from within the heart of God, and it wasn’t learned. On the other hand, we humans are “junior artists.” Every person, Christian or not, was made in the image of God. Thus, we all create from being “sourced in God.” There is an artist’s palette within every person, each having what it takes to contribute in a creative way.

The Branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious. (Isaiah 4:2)

Your eyes will see the King in His beauty. (Isaiah 33:17)

It’s actually rare to hear teachings in your average church on the personality of God, which transcends mere cognitive reflection. True, we must begin there, but then we must become “miners” that go deep into the mountain to extract the gold. Viewing God as beautiful is an essential attribute of knowing Him. In over nearly forty years of marriage, I’ve found this to be true: The more beautiful God looks to me, the more beautiful my spouse looks to me. 

Personally, I don’t often visit an art gallery because the vast majority of what’s on display, doesn’t interest me. Thankfully, Anne and I have similar tastes in art. On our honeymoon, we stayed in a quaint little city called Niagara-on-the-Lake, in Canada. A local artist, Trisha Romance, had an art gallery there. From her artist’s palette, she creates warm and inviting paintings focused on home and family. The perception of beauty is subjective. What one person finds beautiful, another may not. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as the saying goes.

I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being formed in secret, and intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colors] in the depths of the earth. (Psalm 139:14–15 AMP; emphasis added)

Every single moment you are thinking of me! How precious and wonderful to consider that you cherish me constantly in your every thought! (Psalm 139:17 TPT)

God is the “beholder,” and He sees you and me as beautiful and wonderful

Our common arch-enemy is shame. Who I am is unworthy of belonging. I am flawed. If others really knew who I was deep inside, they would surmise that I have a deficiency. I wrote those words a few years ago, and the villain lurks still today. The father of lies has been outed, exposed as the dark brains behind the operation of every assault on your value as a person. He seeks to block the Beholder’s words from your soul, inserting instead the story line of wounding as the only reality you deserve. Truth is, we are God’s beloved sons and daughters. That will never change.

If personal and spiritual growth supplies my palette and if I could assign character traits as colors, these would be my primary ones:

The fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (Galatians 5:22–23AMP)

This is the relational artwork that God desires to put on display in every marriage gallery.

How would you like to grow in seeing God’s beauty?

For more from Mike and Anne Rizzo, we recommend Vertical Marriage: A Godward Preparation for Life Together. Practical and visionary, the book will help you evaluate your relationship, establish a marital vision, understand God’s unique design for your marriage and future, and set expectations for the nitty-gritty details of life together. For use with a marriage counselor or independently, for engaged couples or those already married, Vertical Marriage is designed for those who desire to establish a powerful marital partnership of eternal significance. Learn more >>

Mike and Anne Rizzo

position

• Directors of Marriage and Family Ministries

Mike and Anne Rizzo have been in pastoral ministry for over 35 years and currently serve as directors of Marriage and Family Ministries at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. They carry a passion for personal mentoring, teaching, and raising up marriages that exalt the name of Jesus. Mike and Anne have three grown children and two grandchildren, and are the authors of Vertical Marriage: A Godward Preparation for Life Together and Longing for Eden: Embracing God’s Vision in Your Marriage.