Painting a Healing

A couple of years ago, a dear friend's little grand-daughter was attacked by a life-threatening reaction to a vaccination. She was in the hospital for quite some time, unresponsive, and wracked with devastating seizures. We were all praying for her.

During this time, the Holy Spirit moved on me to paint a picture for them(click on the picture to see large), to encourage the family and minister to the little girl. My painting skills were not great, and I had no idea what to paint. So I just started to paint my feelings, and to intercede while I did so.

There were a couple of verses that my friend was holding on to during this time, and I prayed these and painted them into the picture. The family was blessed by the Lord's expression of mercy and love towards them through this painting, and the Lord graciously spared the little girl's life with His healing power. She is still recovering from the effects of the ordeal, but we are believing, holding on to and proclaiming His complete restoration work to be accomplished. She continues to improve, and this is to His glory.

The painting has many symbols. The hand is Jesus' hand, reaching into the family's life, breaking through the difficult circumstances to give them back their daughter, fully restored. The rose had a bit of an unusual look to it, and I remember the Lord saying that she would bear "marks" of her illness and healing. Huge waves are rolling up, destroying some of what they had built in their life, but the wave turns into a protecting angel wing from Heaven. New "buildings" are created in the place of the destruction, and these things are of eternal value. The multi-media artwork has "jewels" as part of these structures.

On the bottom are seashells that weather the storm, but underneath the paint is a sandcastle that represents some of the activities of childhood. The decoupaged crystal rose represents the little girl in her coma state, which is then replaced by the living rose, which draws its life from the Saviour who holds her in His hands.

The sanddollar represents the body of Christ broken for her healing, and also the grandmother's heart as it breaks over her loved ones' suffering. Out from it come five doves, representing the grace of God. The doves are flying upward in prayer, becoming the Holy Spirit dove who carries a golden censer with incense, which is the prayers of the saints.

On the top left of the picture is a temple representing the presence of God in Heaven and in His body, which is His temple on earth. Out from this come the words "Talitha cumi", which means "Little girl, arise". It was the words Jesus spoke to the little girl in Mark 5:41. Here, it shows that the Church was responding to the Word spoken in Heaven and was speaking the Word out in faith, to the same effect as when Jesus spoke it when He was here on earth, and with the same effectiveness. Other Scripture verses were painted into it, then covered , and I don't remember now what they were.

The other Scripture that inspired this painting is Isaiah 54: 11-17 NKJV:

"O you afflicted one, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, And lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of rubies, Your gates of crystal, And all your walls of precious stones. All your children shall be taught by the LORD, And great shall be the peace of your children. In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; And from terror, for it shall not come near you. . . No weapon formed against you shall prosper. . .This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me," Says the LORD."

Praise the Lord for His wonderful work: that which He has already done, and that which He is about to do! He gets all the glory.

Karen Gladys Henry © 2008 All Rights Reserved.