“He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters….He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.” 2 Samuel 22:17, 20 (NIV)
I delivered this painting to a friend yesterday. It was both a relief and a release to hand it over to her. She teared up…and named the bird “Sam” even before she took him home to roost somewhere in her house. She says he’s her favorite kind of bird and she seemed genuinely excited to get him. That’s a pretty satisfying response for an artist of any kind.
When we had lunch two weeks ago, I knew I was going to paint “Sam” even before our lunch date was over. As much as I had needed this time with my friend, I now desperately needed to get home and start painting. Part prayer, part testimony, part reminder of who God says He is and what we so often need from Him. I needed to paint this rough and wild looking bird looking back out over the deep waters. She needed to see it. We both needed this crazy-looking bird.
As a creative, you’re never really sure when and where the next inspiration will appear, but it’s a sure bet that surrounding yourself with people who inspire you is a fine place to start. My friend Kelley is a constant blessing even though our contact is more sporadic than the depth of our connection would indicate on the surface. She is a championship-level encourager to every person she knows and, because of that, she has always been a blessing and a LOT of fun to have as a friend. We are connected by God and history, but since we don’t live in the same place, we usually just see each other for our annual lunch date in a nearby town where neither of us lives. Although we most often keep in touch through public social media and the occasional text or call for prayer, we have that blessing of being able to instantly reconnect and share all kinds of personal news…and then we shop—something I rarely do even by myself. Kelley is probably my only “semi-regular” (once a year! Ha!) shopping friend just because she is so much fun to be with that I manage to overlook the fact that I am actually out and in a store without a list or agenda.
While we worked our way through delicious crepes, we caught up and shared many things, including some of the heaviest of losses of the past year and how we are/aren’t yet through dealing with them. We stopped to pray for each other several times as we worked our way through the particularly rough spots. I tell you that is the very best way to share and catch up with a friend. You should try it.
During our shopping time afterward, I noticed that we were both being drawn to birds. Neither of us bought a single one, but we both stopped to admire, comment on, or reached to touch most of the bird-items we saw that day. As the idea for this painting popped into my head, I instantly knew it was necessary for me to paint it for her. Before the basecoat had even dried, I remembered the verse that this painting would represent. It was a confirmation even before I had done more than start to prep the canvas. 2 Samuel 22:17 (NIV) says, “He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.” That’s the verse I wanted to put on canvas for my friend…and for myself.
If you look closely, you might notice that this bird looks a little rough around the edges–as though it’s been through a storm. The feathers are ruffled and slightly out of place. “Sam” has not had a smooth and easy adventure or a time of resting on the beach vacation-day. This bird has been through the wringer, survived, and been rescued to try again.
As I painted and prayed my way through this one, I also read further into Chapter 22. In it, as I usually do, I found comfort in the reading of God’s Word and a reminder I thought you might need as much as my friend and I do. Verse 20 says, in part, “…he rescued me because he delighted in me.”
Did you see that? Read it again. Don’t miss it! God cannot be less than the Rescuer He is or love us less than He has promised. These words say that He rescues us from the hard places of life because He delights in us. HE DELIGHTS IN US—even when we find ourselves in deep and difficult places we can’t rescue or return from on our own. By its very definition a rescue is necessary when we cannot make our own way out of whatever trouble we’re experiencing. It is then that we need to know that God delights in us more than at any other time, because it is THEN that we feel it the least. That knowledge is power. It is strength. It can give us the ability to hold on until the rescue is completed.
I don’t know of anyone who has managed to get through life without losing something or someone. The last several years have been particularly brutal in this regard for most of the people I know. Most of us lost more than just one thing and more than just one someone. Loss and grief take their time in healing and if you’re already over yours, then I will stop and praise God with you for that right now. As for me, quite honestly, I’m not there yet and there are days when I wonder if it will ever happen.
I needed to do this painting in order to read this promise of God’s faithfulness again and be reminded of it. Maybe, I needed to write this post so YOU could read this again and know it, too. For sure and for certain, I needed to share it. May the God of all Hope be visible to you in your places of pain and hardship. May you look for Him and call on Him when—and even before!—you “need” Him. He delights in us. Let’s choose to delight in Him, as well, as we await the day of our rescue and find the strength to trust Him for the rescue of those we love, as well.
Grace and Peace—from God, Kelley, me…and “Sam”
quiet ambitions: 