Let Him Finish!

Being confident of this: that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. – Philippians 1:6

Our family’s summer home is on a little peninsula on a small lake, which is connected to Lake Michigan by a channel with piers and lighthouses on either side.

This place is paradise in the summer. It’s also a place of nostalgia for us. It’s where Marty and I came as children, where we met, where we got married, where we lived for about eight years, and where we spend summers, now that we’re retired.

Here I take daily walks down the road toward the “big lake” and out to the end of the pier on our side of the channel. From there I usually look over at the lighthouse on the other side, the one that has an American flag painted on the base. (The one on our side just has a “SLOW NO WAKE” sign. Not nearly as classy.) I look at the flag and smile, because I remember when that flag was painted, and it was not the U. S. Coast Guard that did it. It was some gutsy teenagers.

It was back in the early 70’s, when I was one of a bunch of young people who spent summers in Michigan. We were the lucky kids who had stay-at-home moms or parents that were teachers and had summers off. We spent our days sailing, water-skiing, playing volleyball, and splashing in the Lake Michigan waves. Our evenings were often spent around a beach fire, where certain members of the group would come up with their latest schemes. One of them, a brainy-type freshman at M.I.T., thought the concrete pier looked a little drab, especially after the old lighthouse had been removed. (Apparently, it had been too tempting for certain individuals to climb, in spite of the “Keep Off!” signs, so it had been replaced with the plainest lighthouse one could imagine and have it still be a lighthouse.) The blank, grey concrete base was begging to be painted.

In those days of the Vietnam War, anti-American sentiment was rampant. Not one to follow the crowd, the M.I.T. student opined that what that empty slab of concrete needed was an American flag. So, he and two friends set out one night to do their patriotic duty, albeit without permission from the local authorities.

The three of them waited until after dark, then sneaked out to the end of the pier with paint cans, brushes, and a long straightedge. In the wee hours of the morning, they painted a blue rectangle, surrounded by an L-shaped block of white. They then went their separate ways, leaving the paint to dry.

After a few hours’ sleep, the artists reconvened and set out to finish the job before sunrise. This time they had red paint for stripes and white paint and stencils to create fifty perfect stars.

It was vital that they finish the project in one night, because, of course, anyone seeing three teenagers painting public property unsupervised would think they were your average run-of-the-mill vandals. There would be arrests before they’d had a chance to show that, “Really, this is gonna look great, if you’d just let us finish it!” (“Tell it to the judge, kid.”)

As it turned out, when the sun rose and the first fishing boats were heading out the channel to Lake Michigan, the work of art was completed and had its first admirers.

“GOD BLESS AMERICA!” one woman cried passionately, as her husband stood up and saluted. Still, the kids thought it best to leave the scene of the crime before anyone with authority saw them.

The Coast Guard must have liked it, though, because no one ever heard any complaint, and to this day, the flag remains. It even seems to have been touched up from time to time by whoever is in charge of such things. (Either that, or we used really good paint.) The image of that iconic lighthouse has popped up in videos and on mugs, stickers, caps, water bottles, and anything else you would find in a local gift shop.

As for the kids that painted it, they were never caught, and after 54 years, I suspect the statute of limitations has passed.

Two of those kids ended up getting married, and last month we celebrated our 52nd anniversary.

When I look back on that night, I remember the excitement. I also remember the sheer terror I felt as a young goody-two-shoes who had never been in trouble with the law … well, not counting being stopped for speeding. I had moments where I was convinced I’d spend the last years of my adolescence in “juvie” – my reputation stained for life. But as decades have gone by, and as the pier with the American flag has become a popular landmark of the area, I find myself telling the legend of three kids that made their mark (literally) on the area.

(“And now you know the rest of the story.” – Paul Harvey)

So, what’s the “divine perspective” in all this? If you find yourself in the middle of something that seems awful, something that makes you wonder if God’s been paying attention, and if so, why He would let this happen to you?

Of course, the answer is yes, He’s always paying attention. But He’s been known to do some of His best work through what may look like a chaotic mess that doesn’t make sense – that is, not until the last piece is put into place. Just as seeing our project when it wasn’t finished would cause people to come to the wrong conclusions, chances are your experience may seem like a colossal mistake on the part of the One in charge. But you know that’s not the case.

Some advice: Take a deep breath. Say a prayer. Let it out. And let Him finish! He just might surprise you with something that will bless you for years to come.

Prayer: Lord, Your thoughts are higher than ours, and our thoughts can be so short-sighted! Forgive us, and help us to trust You, even when things don’t make sense to us at all. We know “You’ve got this,” and Your finished work will be wonderful. In Jesus’ name, Amen.