If you have attended church for any extended period of time, odds are you have dealt with church hurt in some capacity.

When waiting on God for what He was leading me to draw, I became anxious and panicked in the waiting. With every day that went by, I was agonizing over the time lost waiting for an idea when I can be working. In those few weeks, however, I was taught a lesson in God’s divine timing. In this time waiting on God, I was seeking Him in prayer and reading the Bible, trying to steward this time the best I knew how. Through this time, the Lord broke chains that were weighing me down for years. Through these weeks of waiting, I was reminded of the fact that time spent with the Lord is never a waste. If I had not had to wait for inspiration for so long, I would still be bound in that area of my life that He has set me free from. Ironically, when I came to this revelation, the idea for my next drawing came with it.

When trying to find inspiration for my next art piece, I was going through a rough patch, hyper-fixating on my circumstances and overcome with fear. I then received the rock shown in the drawing from my mom. She told me that she was given it at work that day and was told to carry it with her to remind herself of the story of David and Goliath and that no matter how big our circumstances might seem, the Lord fights our battles for us. This timely reminder became the subject of my next drawing.

This drawing is based off of the parable of the ten virgins found in Matthew 25:1-13.

When researching the meaning behind all of the classic Christmas decorations and imagery, I was surprised to find the meaning behind the Christmas bells. It is not something typically thought of in the traditional Christmas story, but in the parable of the lost sheep.

Through this drawing, I sought to show Christ bridging the gap between God and man.

This drawing is based off of the story of the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4.

Throughout scripture, we see an abundance of imagery and metaphors concerning the topic of refinement.

In reading Mark 5, I was struck by the contrast between the healing of the women with the issue of blood and Jairus’s daughter. Jesus showed up for them in very different ways and in a way that was very personal to what they each needed to be shown.

Through my last drawing, “Consider the Lilies”, I touched on the subject of trusting in God’s plan, even when your circumstances look impossible. Through this drawing I want to go more in depth on the subject.

He values you, He loves you, He has you here for a reason, and He will redeem what is broken in his perfect timing.

Thomas in the Bible, unfortunately in the western world, has been labeled as a doubter. This labelling, however, is inaccurate to who Thomas is and the rest that is known of him as a follower of Jesus.

When we turn our eyes towards Christ instead of our circumstances, we can have peace and joy in the midst of it. We can take comfort in knowing that we do not have to face these battles on our own and that the Lord is with us in the midst of all of it.