Painting still scares me! But desperation is great for getting me to run to the Lord and rely on Him.
A week ago my neighbor invited me to join her Red Hat club as they were going to Paint the Town for an afternoon of painting!
Now at this studio you can either paint a copy of a picture on the wall, or create your own. As I sat there staring at a blank canvas I asked the Lord if He’d bless me with a picture that would continue to help me process what He’s been teaching me and be honoring to Him.
Again, when I went to get paint, I focused on dark colors but the gold paint also caught my eye. As I began applying the first dark brushstrokes the woman painting next to me said, “Ooooh, going through a dark time, eh?”
Then the words came to mind, “When He has tried me I shall come forth as gold.” I guessed they were from Job but was amazed when I looked them up to find they came from the exact same place I’d been camping out in this past week, only I hadn’t focused on that part of the verse… yet.
So I decided to paint a woman dancing as the verse, “He has turned my mourning into dancing” (Psalm 30:11) came to mind. But I decided to paint her all gold. I applied the paint thickly thinking how when someone comes forth as gold, it’s not a thin veneer but they’ve become a person of great substance!
Next I thought it’d be neat to have the gold dripping down from above making it clear this has all come from God, but when I started applying the paint – well it was super thick and didn’t do much dripping! So I got more and applied more on top thinking if I put enough on it would force it down… by this time a small crowd gathered around and people were commenting on the texture. Did it ever provide a great opportunity to share how I’ve been struggling over my hearing loss, grieving the loss of what I can no longer do, yet how the Lord’s been meeting me, rekindling hope.
The precious woman next to me put her arm around me and said, “You’ve got to grieve to heal.”
Now I was terrified of putting words on this painting, but then people began to help me. First my neighbor walked with me around the studio and we examined the different ways others had painted on words, selecting the techniques and forms we liked best. Then another woman showed me how I could use chalk and wipe it off until I got the words the way I want them.
As I began painting them on another woman asked, “Is that from the Bible?!” Got to love how art provides such neat opportunities to share!
Then I finished taking a copper red color and applying it around the outside of the frame, realizing such hope is only made possible because of Jesus’ blood shed for me.
Was my soul ever nourished and my heart abundantly encouraged as the Lord enabled me to express this precious truth He gave me!
Restful Heart 