In the winepress we find a trembling, perspiring coward hiding for his life when the Angel of the Lord appears to Gideon and calls him a 'mighty man of [fearless] courage.' At first those words almost sound like cruel sarcasm, but there was no smirk on the angel's face. God was not mocking Gideon, nor did He have Gideon confused with someone else. God saw something in Gideon that no one else saw, including Gideon himself. How comforting it is to know that God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. Oh, my friend, when you understand what God sees when He looks at you, it will change your life. Let me explain it this way.

In the early 1500's a twenty-five-year-old artist and sculptor laboured tirelessly with hammer and chisel over a colossal block of cold marble. Other artists had rejected the stone because it had defects, so it sat untouched for several decades before this young sculptor saw something beautiful in it. He worked night and day with obsessive dedication. When someone asked him why he was working so hard on that old stone, he replied, 'Because there is an angel in that rock that wants to come out'. Nearly three years after starting his work, the young artist, Michelangelo, unveiled his enduring masterpiece: a seventeen-foot-tall sculpture that today is known the world over as David.

Anyone who is an artisan will acknowledge that before a masterpiece is ever crafted, it exists in the mind of its creator. Before a brush strokes the canvas, before a chisel touches the stone, before the clay is placed on the potter's wheel, before the artist creates a painting, sculpture, or piece of pottery, before the artist has anything tangible to display, he first and foremost has a dream. In the artist's mind he already sees what he will create before it exists in the physical world. Michelangelo saw something in that block of stone long before anyone else did. Other artists saw impossible defects and imperfections, but Michelangelo saw a masterpiece trapped in that rejected rock, and he worked diligently to set it free.

Our God is the master artist! Consider the unfathomable wonder of creation, which even in its fallen condition gives us a fleeting glimpse into the genius of its Creator who, in His eternal mind, saw every detail down to the smallest particle while there was still nothing. Just think about this: the architect of the universe spoke the worlds into existence, but He crafted Adam with His own hands and breathed into him with His own mouth! God has crowned His creation with a masterpiece, which is distinguished because it is 'handmade' by the great Creator! And God continues to fashion mankind with His own hands. Psalm 139:13 says, 'For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb' (nas).

The Master of the universe, the eternal, immortal, invisible, all-wise God, made you with His own hands! But before He began to weave you together in your mother's womb, He saw you in His eternal mind, down to the smallest detail. And before you were ever born, He had a dream for your life. Perhaps as He was weaving you together in your mother's womb, He said, 'I'm going to make this boy into a mighty man of fearless courage!' Or, 'I'm going to make this little girl into a mighty prophetess to her generation!' Whatever His dream for your life might be, one thing is for sure: His will for your life is beyond what you could ask or think!