Painted Live in worship at Glory City Church 15th March 2020
Did you know there’s such a thing as an ice volcano? I did not. When the Lord gave me this image a few days before, with the phrase ‘an ice volcano’ – and it didn’t go away by Sunday – I figured I had better ask Him what it means. At first, I thought of a volcano spitting the usual fire and brimstone and googled images, but then … an ice volcano? Perhaps the Lord is saying don’t let appearances deceive you. I discovered that ice volcanoes spit out ice! With immense force.
As I painted, the ‘immense force’ part of the image struck a chord, and it is His glory that is coming forth. Not in a slow-flow like lava, but in extreme eruptive activity. The word He gave is “expect the unexpected”, not only appropriate because it is the title of one of my favourite of Narelle Crabtree’s sermons and David Crabtree from Unfailing Grace Ministries was preaching at Glory City that evening, but because amidst this season of global contagion disaster, the unexpected is exactly what we should expect from our God. Nobody expects icy mountains to erupt. No one expects icebergs to be anything more than a chunk of ice. These cryovolcanoes are even found on other planets.
As I painted, the sheer unapproachable, hostile barrenness became more evident, yet the starkness hides the power that is happening deep within. I believe the Lord is saying, “Don’t look with your eyes”. In the last few minutes, I changed the foreground of the painting. It became like an ice floe pathway. I felt the Lord saying, “I will show you the way through”.
Several people gave me powerful interpretations and explanations of what they had seen as I painted. In retrospect, with the ensuing sudden change in how we lived, and the unprecedented way it unfolded over two years, this was a word we needed to hang onto.
