Title: Have You Seen My Beloved?

This is an image of the bride in the Song of Solomon, from chapter three.  Beginning in verse 1, it reads:

"All night long on my bed I looked for the one my heart loves; I looked for him but did not find him.  I will get up now and go about the city, through its streets and squares; I will search for the one my heart loves.

"So I looked for him but did not find him.  The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city.  “Have you seen the one my heart loves?” Scarcely had I passed them when I found the one my heart loves.  I held him and would not let him go…""

This was the first time that the Lord spoke with me about what He wanted to teach me about painting.  He said that I was only to paint when I felt His anointing.  I was not to go paint when I was “in the mood” or when I “felt like it“, but only when I felt the anointing come upon me.  When the anointing Presence of Holy Spirit lifted, I was to immediately stop and clean up, no matter what point I was at or what I still felt I had left to do.  It was a serious discipleship that I entered into with Him, and He taught me to listen carefully to His direction.  He showed me which colors to apply where and what technique to use.  It took me three months to finish this painting as I learned to paint and listen at the same time.

It was the Lord Who told me when it was done.  I felt that there were still things I needed to ‘tweak’.  He was very clear with me as He explained that He was answering my prayers to have His anointing on my artwork.  I could have one or the other but not both:  either I could have my perfectionism, or I could have His anointing.  I chose His anointing.  When I look at this one, there are still things that I would have done differently, but I’ve learned to let that go.  I would much rather have God use these paintings for others to ’see’ something of Him revealed than for them to ’see’ a technically perfect execution of an idea of mine.

Shortly after the painting was completed, I got an invitation to attend the wedding of a dear friend on the opposite coast.  As I prayed, I felt I was to take this painting to her wedding, but the Lord began to work in my heart that there was more He was asking of me.  She was to have one of her own!  I was stunned, since I was to leave soon to fly across country.  How could I paint another in just over a week, when this one had taken three months to complete?  He asked me to hang this version on our patio and set up my easel next to it, and led me through the creation of another version in just under one week.  The two are not identical, but could be sisters who posed for the same artist.

< Back to top