I came in the afternoon with my little journal and art supplies. Rather nervous, as I hadn't really done much art journaling in church; but I knew it was what I wanted to do. So I set up in a pew at the side and settled down to listen and absorb it. It was a very nice atmosphere in the sanctuary - calm and reverent and beautiful - as one by one, or as families, members stood up to read.
There was a program (which, alas, I can no longer find) telling the books that were being read and when. I came in at the latter part of Daniel, and the prophecies swirled around me.
Prophecy
As I continued to add color I kept thinking of a quotation I had read, something like: His chariot is the storm, and His coursers rush furiously on, but there is a bit between their teeth...
It took me a little while to find it, as the various quotations I've written down are scattered around in many books, but I finally tracked it down. And, as I thought, it was by C. H. Spurgeon:
In times of confusion, when everything seems to be swirling around you, when you can't find that solid ground, when nothing that you try seems to work - it's easy to think that God isn't there, that you're left alone to bear this. At one such time in my own life, when everything seemed to be crashing around me, and I didn't know what to do, and nothing I did seemed to help - God reminded me that "the mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord."
Clouds and thick darkness surround him;
righteousness and justice are the foundations of his throne.
Fire goes before him
and consumes his foes on every side.
His lightning lights up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all peoples see his glory.
~Psalm 97:2-6
When God comes in His power, the earth shakes.
It was an interesting experience, sitting there and listening for several hours. Usually I read verses, maybe a chapter or two. Hearing the whole sweep of books at one time, and different books, gave a very different perspective. You really got the feel of the whole book, the sweep of it. Sometimes I had no inspiration and just listened. Other times I was in the middle of working when something else caught my attention. I wish I had stopped to write down the thoughts and inspirations of such times, because now they're gone. If I have such an opportunity again I will be sure to have things ready for jotting down notes.
He has put Eternity in their hearts...
~ Ecclesiastes 3:11
I loved this, and it was as best as I could represent it. Each one of us is an eternal flame, a spark from His great fire. And He coaxes us out and draws us forward, growing into His light, becoming more and more like Him. He knows us, knows what we will respond to, what we need. And so He works with us individually, keeping us surrounded with His love and constant care.
The Way is Open.
The Spirit and the Bride say "Come"
The words on this were added later, but it was what I heard at the time. The drawing itself was just the curtains pulled back, and the glory within revealed. And as I looked at it, I felt His voice promising "The Way is Open." And I began to cry, because the way had seemed closed for so long. "The Spirit and the Bride say 'Come.'" Not only open, but I am invited, awaited. My heart overflowed.
I knew what the invitation was to me. When I showed it to a friend, she felt a different invitation. And so I offer it to you, for whatever the Father is inviting you to come into at this time.
The Way is Open.
The Spirit and the Bride say "Come."
