Kneeling on Water
Date: September 22nd, 2024
Canvas: 30” x 30”
Cost: $500
Doug focused on the Jamie Winship question that will change your life: “God, what do you want me to know about this?” We expect a loud and clear response, but the Holy Spirit doesn't yell, he whispers.
First I pictured God like a mighty Greek column rising up out of the ocean supporting all of us. ‘No’, I thought, ‘that's the opposite of a whisper.’ Then, I remembered how Peter saw Jesus and walked toward him on the lake, but looked at the storm, got scared and sank. Then Jesus quickly caught him and lifted him out of the water. I, like Peter, have doubted God to the point it seemed better to swim solo. So, I painted Jesus as the servant king kneeling in humble submission to The Holy Spirit who holds him on top of the water. Now, I'm the bald guy on the right confidently grabbing hold. In such a place of trust I can ask God, “What do you want to do through me?” and listen patiently for his whisper.
22 years ago, The Holy Spirit, kneeling patiently atop the waves of my own anxious mind, was already rescuing me out of those waters by using things like The Grand Canyon, and Doug’s invitation to paint live for the first time. Around that time, the vision to start a family came to me, but I'll admit I was scared. One day when my childrens’ mother and I were swimming in our apartment complex pool (realizing just now the connection to water!)...in an uncanny moment, like being in a movie…my senses sharpened…and inside my own breath he seemed to whisper in sync with my words…‘I want us to start a family.’ A year later our first daughter, Isabella, was born. Did my fear go away? No way–the opposite, in fact. But, that didn’t seem to matter as much anymore, because–little by little–I was learning this way of ‘kneeling on water.’
“…you are in me, and I am in you.” –John 14:20