Invitation to the Deep

I stood in our kitchen praying over an opportunity my husband and I felt we were being called to step into, and we realized now was not the time. We were crushed. The last year had been a year of deeply grieving the death of Asher and this opportunity felt like a breath of fresh air; something that had become quite elusive after spending so much time in the trenches. Afterwards as I prayed, God spoke "Deeper" to me. I realized in that moment that He was inviting me to go deeper with Him to places I had never given Him access to.

Over several days the image of being at the bottom of the ocean was stuck in my mind. As I prayed to Him about this word, I told Him I didn't want to go deeper. He asked why, and I told Him I wouldn't be able to breathe. He said to me "Let me be the breath in your lungs. Will you go deeper?" I accepted His gentle invitation, still scared but saying "Yes." 

As I started this painting, I was trying to use a reference picture but it wasn't looking right. I was frustrated, especially by how the bottom of the ocean was looking. I felt Him telling me to stop using the reference picture and He said to me, "You know what this looks like." It was in this moment I was able to paint what you see now, and I realized He was inviting me not only to go deeper with Him, but to open my eyes while being in the deep waters. 

After I finished this painting, I realized there are five main beams of light. I didn't understand the significance until my husband said it was like the fingers of God reaching down into the depths.