In the Light

Some of Duane's drawings had stories behind them that I knew about; some did not.  Sometimes when I asked him what a particular drawing meant, he didn't know.... or perhaps he didn't want to share it with me.  I understand that artists sometimes draw things that represent how they feel.  It can be a release of emotion.  Sometimes he drew images that he "saw" that meant nothing to him, but they meant a whole lot to another person.  I find it interesting to learn what his art says to others.

This drawing I named "In The Light."  I asked two friends to tell me what they saw in it.  One said, "I see someone who doesn't understand who, what, or why they are... and although they feel afraid, they also secretly desire and believe in Hope."  The drawing made her think of God as searching to and fro with His flashlight (like we did when we were kids, looking for something in the dark), and stopping on this soul....  She felt that this person desired God's light shine on her (or him) and obliterate all the pain, and that this person either wanted this experience or already had it.

Don't you think that describes a lot of people?  People who do not know who, what or why they are?  I just feel like there are a lot of people who don't understand, or believe, that God created them with a specific purpose in mind.  Just like we inherited traits from our natural parents, God, our Heavenly Father, placed a seed, a little bit, some trait of himself in each person, and only by discovering what that is can we become really happy or fulfilled.  The words of an old country song pop into my head here: "I saw the light, I saw the light... no more darkness, no more night.  Now I'm so happy, no sorrow in sight.... Praise the Lord, I saw the light!" 

The thought of God searching "to and fro" brings this to mind:

"For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth

that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His."

2 Chronicles 16:9, NASB

Think of that!  God is looking, searching here and there, for some whose heart is completely His, so that He may strongly support them.  Who wouldn't want to be strongly supported by God?

I have another friend who told me that she has put herself in this particular drawing many times, in her heart.  There's nothing hidden for the person in this drawing.  The glorious light finds her, even in her worst moment, and still covers her.  She thinks of humility, which is the bowing low and allowing God to expose anything in us that is not of Him, and allowing His holiness to shine on us.  Sometimes we think we can hide things from God, but there truly is no place we can go that He isn't.

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

Psalm 139:7-12 (NIV)

I hope that this is a comforting thought, not a fearful one.  God is love.  His mercies are new every morning.  The Amplified version of the Bible tells us that God's "compassions fail not... they are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness." (Lam. 3:23.)

May this drawing encourage you to allow God's light to shine on you.

May you believe in Hope.

May the Lord make his face shine on you

and be gracious to you;

May He turn his face toward you

and give you peace.

From Numbers 6:25-26 (NIV)