Painting a picture requires vision, patience and time.  I have just completed a paint by number painting and learned this first hand.  When I started working on the painting, I did one color at a time, trying to find each small piece that had the specific number in it.  As I started to get the project completed, I began to pick a section of the painting to complete the different numbers in the area.  I was getting inpatient at not seeing the picture forming.  As I tried to speed up my desire to see picture emerge, I realized it was taking much longer.  Cleaning my brush between each small piece and finding the right color number made the process much longer.  I switched back to one color at a time.  

As I thought about this, I became aware of how God pieces together our lives.  He works in so many different areas to create a beautiful picture of our life.  It may not seem like it is the right timing or the area we think needs to be fixed but God know the colors to work with at the right moment.  The coming together may take time for us to see but the picture he is creating is guaranteed to be the best possible painting from the colors of our lives.  Understanding God has our best as his goal, patience and seeking his will will lead to an amazing outcome.