The Masterpiece Within
- Norm Rentschler
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
What if the person you're trying to become is already waiting inside the person you are today?
There are moments when a single sentence changes the way we see ourself. I recently came across one that has stayed with me ever since:
“Don't waste time trying to put in what was left out. Try to draw out what was left in.” (Marcus Buckingham)
The more I've reflected on those words, the more I've realized how often we spend our lives looking in the wrong direction.
We search for the next book, podcast, or promotion, the next relationship, the next program, or the next quick fix. We convince ourselves that somewhere outside of us is the missing piece that will finally make us confident, discipline, fulfilled, or happy.
Underneath that pursuit is a quiet belief many of us carry:
“I'm not enough.”
We may not say those words out loud, but they often shape the way we think:
“I'm behind.”
“I'm broken.”
“I have wasted too much time.”
“I'm not who I should be by now.”
“If I could just find the right answer, then I'd finally become the person I want to be.”
It's an exhausting way to live because it starts from the assumption that we're empty buckets waiting to be filled. What if that's not who we are at all?
You're Not an Empty Bucket. You're a Seed
A seed doesn't need someone to place an oak tree inside it. Everything necessary to become a mighty oak is already there.
The blueprint, capacity, and potential are already there. The seed already has the ability to grow, to reproduce, and the ability to provide shelter for generations to come. The seed isn't lacking. It simply hasn't fully become what it was created to become.
The seed's work is not to acquire a new identity. It’s work is to grow into the identity already written within it. Of course, a seed still needs water. It needs sunlight and healthy soil. The weeds surrounding it must be removed. Growth requires nourishment, patience, and time.
But none of those things create the oak tree. They simply create the conditions that allow what already exists within the seed to emerge. Perhaps we are far more like that seed than we realize.
Remember Who You Are
We are children of Heavenly Parents with divine DNA. We are more than capable human beings trying to become spiritual. We are spiritual beings having a mortal experience.
We are created in Their image, heirs to divine potential.
Within each of us are attributes that reflect our Heavenly Parents.
Faith, love, and courage.
Compassion, wisdom, and creativity.
The capacity to create, to serve, and to become.
These qualities may not yet be fully developed, but they are present. Like a seed beneath the soil, we exist in quiet, embryonic form, waiting for light, nourishment, and room to grow.
This thought changed everything in my mind.
Growth becomes less about acquiring something we don't yet possess and more about uncovering what has already been there all along.
The Lie We Begin to Believe.
I think one of the adversary’s most effective strategies is remarkably simple.
He convinces us to forget. To forget who God is. To forget His promises and to forget our divine identity. We overlook what has already been placed within us.
When we forget, the lies and traps of life sound believable.
“I'm broken.”
“I'm damaged.”
“I'm ordinary.”
“I'm lost.”
“I'll never be able to change.”
“I'll never measure up.”
“I’ve failed.”
Those lies quietly become our identity.
Instead of living from who we are, we begin living from what we've experienced.
Instead of seeing ourselves as learning and growing, we define ourselves by our perceived failures, our fears, and our unfinished chapters.
But lies don't become truth simply because they've been repeated.
The Masterpiece is Already There
There is a story about Michelangelo that has always fascinated me. A massive block of marble had been rejected by several of the top sculptors because they believed it contained too many flaws.
Michelangelo reportedly said of the block of marble:
“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”
Whether those are his exact words or not, they beautifully capture his philosophy. The masterpiece wasn't something he added. It was something he revealed. His work wasn't to create David. His work was to remove everything that concealed David.
I wonder if our lives are more like that block of marble than we realize. Perhaps the courage we've been searching for is already there. Perhaps the peace is there. We already have the confidence, purpose, compassion, and strength. These attributes may not be fully visible, nor fully mature. But they are present…waiting.
The Hammer and the Chisel
Several years ago, I came across a pair of sculptures by Mexican artist Victor Hugo Yanez Pina that immediately captured my attention. The sculptures each depict a man and a woman carefully chiseling away their own oversized outer form, revealing a stronger version of themselves hidden within. The sculptor and the sculpture are the same person.
That image impacted me because it reminds me that transformation is often a process of uncovering rather than inventing. Each careful strike removes something that no longer belongs:
Fear.
Comparison.
Pride.
False identity.
Distractions.
Unbelief.
Shame.
Each careful strike…one at a time…slowly…patiently…deliberately. The work isn't glamorous and it certainly isn’t easy. Some days it feels like nothing is happening or maybe we are going in the wrong direction entirely.
However, every small, simple strike matters. Every small decision is making a difference. Every act of faith is part of the process. Every quiet prayer matters. Every choice to forgive brings some healing. Every decision to get back up and begin again matters. Every moment we choose hope instead of despair is helping us become.
We likely will not see the masterpiece after one day of carving. But that doesn't mean it isn't emerging.
Grace Gives Growth Room to Happen
One of the greatest tragedies is how impatient we are with ourselves. Think about how we treat a child learning to walk. When they stumble, we don't criticize them. We don't tell them they're behind, get discouraged, or belittle them. We don't compare them with other children. Instead, we celebrate every attempt, we encourage every step, we smile every time they stand back up. We cheer with even the smallest progress.
Why?
Because we understand that growth takes time. Growth is part of a process. Yet many of us refuse to extend ourselves that same grace. We criticize every set back. We dwell on and magnify every weakness. We compare our chapter three to someone else's chapter thirty.
Some of us even develop a toxic relationship with every version of ourselves. We resent our past. We criticize our present. We fear our future.
But our Heavenly Parents don't see us that way. They see a beloved son and a beloved daughter who is growing, learning, and becoming. And They are so proud. They look at us with excitement, and belief, and confidence.
Having grace in ourselves isn't lowering the standard. Grace is giving ourselves the same patient space to grow that our Heavenly Parents already give us.
One Small Chisel Today
We don't have to uncover our entire masterpiece today.
We don't have to become the mighty oak before sunset. We only need to ask:
What is one small thing I can do today that nurtures my seed?
One small decision. One honest conversation. One small step after another.
One page at a time. One prayer.
One act of courage. One distraction removed.
One lie replaced with truth. Just one thoughtful strike of the chisel.
Over time, those seemingly insignificant choices become transformation.
Not because they create greatness. Because they reveal it.
The Invitation
Perhaps our greatest work is not becoming someone else or becoming someone we think we should be. Perhaps our greatest work is removing everything that has convinced us we're someone we're not.
The world will continue telling you to chase more. More success, more recognition, more possessions, and more validation. But perhaps the greatest discovery we'll ever make isn't found somewhere out there. Perhaps it's found within.
I believe as we walk with Christ. And we try to rely on His grace and His power, He helps us see what we cannot yet see in ourselves. He patiently helps shape, refine, and strengthen us as we willingly place our life in His hands. He never loses sight of the masterpiece, even when all we can see is a block of stone.
The process may feel slow. We may wonder if anything is changing. Keep carving. Keep nurturing the seed. Keep trusting the Gardener.
One day we'll look back and realize that our life was never about trying to become someone different or to be worthy of someone else's love. It wasn't about meeting someone else's expectations. Life was about allowing His love to uncover the person that our Heavenly Parents already knew we could become. You are indeed the Masterpiece Within.
So, let me leave you with one question that has been on my mind for weeks.
What if the person you’re trying to become is already waiting inside the person you are today?
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