We all go through periods of uncertainty and self-doubt…questioning if the path we are on is actually the path God intends for us to be on. I went through such a period recently. Some events occurred that led me to begin questioning if God really wanted me to continue pursuing a career in art. Maybe he wanted me to do something else. Maybe I was spinning my “art wheels” for nothing. I came to the conclusion, through the help of family and friends that sometimes the Adversary gets into our heads and causes us to have these doubts about God’s plan. He causes us to question God’s intentions for us, and if we don’t recognize that for what it truly is, a spiritual attack by the Enemy, we begin to question God Himself. Fortunately, I have a support group of amazing people that snapped me out of my time of self-doubt and helped me to see what was happening. I decided to move forward with my art, as I had been given many signs over the past few years that God wanted me to paint for the purpose of blessing others with my art. And then came the confirmation directly from Him…an undeniable confirmation that I am doing exactly what He is calling me to do.
In the online art club of which I’m a member, a monthly contest is held. Each contest has a different theme, and for January, the theme was “New Growth”. Those who wished to submit artwork to the contest have to create a painting in that theme and utilize the color green within the painting. I had been kicking around ideas of what I could paint to submit for the contest, and on Friday morning of last week, I began working on laying out a composition for an idea that came to me. My idea was to have a woman walking out of a barren, desolate, black and white landscape through a portal into a land of lush and vibrant green plants, trees, and flowers. This was to signify the woman’s journey toward new growth as she continued toward the place that would provide nourishment to her soul. I suppose it symbolically represented my art journey to me after thinking about it. But anyway, I wasn’t sold on the design I had created and began to wonder why I had even come up with it, as this design was something totally different from what I’m normally drawn to paint. So, rather than starting the painting, I decided to think on it for a while to see if ideas for a composition emerged that I liked better.
On the same evening, Kevin and I attended a concert at our church. There were several groups there, one of which was the Promised Land Quartet. During the concert, one of the singers in the group began explaining the idea behind the next song they were going to sing from their new album, called “My Promised Land”. He explained that during the walks we all must take from time to time through the hot, dry desert, our souls long for an oasis. God is that oasis. If we follow Him, we will eventually emerge from the desert and arrive in our Promised Land. I sat in amazement, with tears flowing down my face as I listened to his explanation of the song’s meaning. He had just explained, almost exactly, the idea behind the design for the painting that I had created that very morning. There was no doubt in my mind that God was speaking to me through this song to provide the confirmation that I so desperately needed after the period of doubt I had just gone through. There was no longer a question as to why I felt the need to create such a painting. God gave me the idea, and He confirmed it later the same day.
Since Friday, I have changed the barren, black and white landscape to a desert and have decided to give the painting the name “My Promised Land”…the same name as the song that God used to inspire me before I had even heard it. Some may say it’s a coincidence, but I know better. God speaks to us in so many ways…we just have to open our hearts and listen. I hear you God, and I will follow the path You set for me. Onward I go, with You leading the way to “My Promised Land”!