Perfect Storm
Painted in Alexandria, Egypt, August, 2010
During late July and August of 2010, Caryn Beth and I followed the Lord’s leading to an underground House of Prayer in Egypt. With the oppressive powers of Islamic law towering around them, we went to visit the House of Prayer directors and the small band of precious Arab believers there, to intercede with them, and to strengthen, comfort and encourage as best we could.
During one of our first prayer watches there I heard the Holy Spirit infuse my prayer with this cry:
"Let a Tidal Wave of Your perfect love drive all fear away"
The scriptural context for that prayer is in 1 John 4:18: “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear . . .”
Four weeks later, still in Egypt, I set out to paint from that intercessional focus. The scene that unfolded is of the Mediterranean coastline of the city we were in, with some locally recognizable buildings in it. The place we met in has (in the painting) a hole blasted through the roof to signify going beyond the ceiling of formal religion. In the painting, a ladder has burst through the hole and a lone radical sheep has ascended to the vulnerable place of high praise; at the very top of the ladder, the sheep is lifting hands in worship, open arms lifted in trust in the very face of the tidal wave that is imminent.
At it's forefront, the wave carries with it ominous aspects of the prophesied end of time: stars and sun and moon falling, the sun turning to blood; but in the painting (and in the coming fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel chapter 2), even these elements are carried forward by the endless flood of the perfect love of God.
The message is an invitation for each of us to ascend via praise to a high place of seeing past whatever difficulties we face--even the unparalleled difficulties and necessary shakings of the end-times fearful things-- and wait for the coming promised goodness and towering perfect love of God to reach us. In the face of such ominous things that are an inevitable part of the last days events, Jesus' words remain clear and encouraging: " When these things begin to happen, look up and hold your heads high, because the time when God will free you is near!." (see Matthew 24 and Luke 21)
I was mentoring a young Egyptian artist at the time; she was only a beginner, and I did not want to make her feel like she had to do the realistic style of art that I normally do in order for her work to be legitimate. So in this painting, I enjoyed a change of style, deliberately moving away from my normal style of realism into a more “cartoony” presentation, working with the Holy Spirit just from my imagination instead of using photographic reference like I usually do.
The final touch was to put Arabic script on the inside edge of the wave. It says: Your perfect love throws my fear outside (the literal Arabic translation of the English, “perfect love drives fear away”).
We gave the painting to the Body there in Egypt before we left; we had no way of knowing at the time the vital role it would play in encouraging those believers. For only weeks later, the Arab Spring took place, ushering in mass chaos, widespread rioting, and the near collapse of Egypt’s economy and political scene, Concerned for the well being of our new friends there, we followed the Lord’s leading and flew back into Egypt, where on this visit, the formerly quiet streets outside the House of Prayer now held tanks and machine gun touting soldiers.
On our arrival, a new face came quietly up to me and asked if I was the one who had painted the above painting. I replied that I was. She then thanked me profusely, and gave the following testimony. When the Arab Spring chaos broke out, and the ATMs were all empty and the stores all closed and the streets filled with anger and violence, she has found her way to the House of Prayer, seeking refuge. She entered, almost completely crippled with a growing, palpable anxiety that was threatening to break her mind. As she walked around the H.O.P., she encountered this painting hanging on the wall; she stood in front of it and suddenly experienced the Holy Spirit driving fear out of her mind and life. She felt it was a moment of true and lasting deliverance from the dominion of fear in her life.
During one of our first prayer watches there I heard the Holy Spirit infuse my prayer with this cry:
"Let a Tidal Wave of Your perfect love drive all fear away"
The scriptural context for that prayer is in 1 John 4:18: “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear . . .”
Four weeks later, still in Egypt, I set out to paint from that intercessional focus. The scene that unfolded is of the Mediterranean coastline of the city we were in, with some locally recognizable buildings in it. The place we met in has (in the painting) a hole blasted through the roof to signify going beyond the ceiling of formal religion. In the painting, a ladder has burst through the hole and a lone radical sheep has ascended to the vulnerable place of high praise; at the very top of the ladder, the sheep is lifting hands in worship, open arms lifted in trust in the very face of the tidal wave that is imminent.
At it's forefront, the wave carries with it ominous aspects of the prophesied end of time: stars and sun and moon falling, the sun turning to blood; but in the painting (and in the coming fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel chapter 2), even these elements are carried forward by the endless flood of the perfect love of God.
The message is an invitation for each of us to ascend via praise to a high place of seeing past whatever difficulties we face--even the unparalleled difficulties and necessary shakings of the end-times fearful things-- and wait for the coming promised goodness and towering perfect love of God to reach us. In the face of such ominous things that are an inevitable part of the last days events, Jesus' words remain clear and encouraging: " When these things begin to happen, look up and hold your heads high, because the time when God will free you is near!." (see Matthew 24 and Luke 21)
I was mentoring a young Egyptian artist at the time; she was only a beginner, and I did not want to make her feel like she had to do the realistic style of art that I normally do in order for her work to be legitimate. So in this painting, I enjoyed a change of style, deliberately moving away from my normal style of realism into a more “cartoony” presentation, working with the Holy Spirit just from my imagination instead of using photographic reference like I usually do.
The final touch was to put Arabic script on the inside edge of the wave. It says: Your perfect love throws my fear outside (the literal Arabic translation of the English, “perfect love drives fear away”).
We gave the painting to the Body there in Egypt before we left; we had no way of knowing at the time the vital role it would play in encouraging those believers. For only weeks later, the Arab Spring took place, ushering in mass chaos, widespread rioting, and the near collapse of Egypt’s economy and political scene, Concerned for the well being of our new friends there, we followed the Lord’s leading and flew back into Egypt, where on this visit, the formerly quiet streets outside the House of Prayer now held tanks and machine gun touting soldiers.
On our arrival, a new face came quietly up to me and asked if I was the one who had painted the above painting. I replied that I was. She then thanked me profusely, and gave the following testimony. When the Arab Spring chaos broke out, and the ATMs were all empty and the stores all closed and the streets filled with anger and violence, she has found her way to the House of Prayer, seeking refuge. She entered, almost completely crippled with a growing, palpable anxiety that was threatening to break her mind. As she walked around the H.O.P., she encountered this painting hanging on the wall; she stood in front of it and suddenly experienced the Holy Spirit driving fear out of her mind and life. She felt it was a moment of true and lasting deliverance from the dominion of fear in her life.