How God Can Speak Through My Art – What’s my Burden?

33 Dots  – Burden

I love to draw. But lately I felt hemmed in when I painted. This week my painting led me to the word – burden.

Photo from Pixabay

I decided I’m letting my inhibitions go and see where God would lead me.

I want to draw freely.

As always I pray first. Then I put down 33 dots ( Idea from Meg Konovska) and draw in the outline. After that I look and look. Then I decide what I see and make the picture. Then I paint it. 

Progression of 33 dots from outline to drawing.

Here is the final picture:

By Janis Cox

It doesn’t end there. I ask God, “What does this picture mean?”

That’s when I go to prayer again and ask God to tell me what this means to my life and possibly others.

Today I heard the word — BURDEN.

I didn’t think I would be going backpacking.  It isn’t something that I do. But then again God can do anything.

Instead I felt the weight of the backpack on my shoulders. And then I had the mountain to climb too.

But as I felt the weight — heavy on my shoulders — I heard God saying:

I will help you with your burden. Don’t be afraid to give it to me. Don’t be weighed down by the cares of this world.

I didn’t think He would tell me to drop the burden.
I didn’t think He’d decide to carry it Himself.
I know He told me He would help me with it.

Psalm 55:22 says:

Cast your cares on the Lord
and he will sustain you;
he will never let
the righteous be shaken.

As I thought of the word “cast” I remember what I had seen in the summer. Fly fishermen and women casting their lines into the waters. Could I throw my cares upon God like that? Would that lighten the load?

Picture by Pixabay

Throw my cares to God. Yes I can do that.

And I remembered Robin Mark singing:

I can hear that thunder in the distance
Like a train on the edge of town
I can feel the brooding of Your Spirit
“Lay your burdens down, Lay your burdens down”.

Maybe I could lay them down?

Did I have to hike up that hill with the heavy burden? Maybe not.

In prayer again I asked the Lord — what things canI lay down?

He said:

You don’t have to do it all.

I asked myself:

Am I too focused on what “I” am doing?
Am I pushing myself too hard?
What am I striving for?

This week I am doing the 5 day a week challenge to write. This challenge is exciting. It runs for 6 weeks. But this isn’t my burden. It doesn’t feel like a burden.

I think it’s social media and my cell phone.

I am seeing social media and my cell as a BLACK HOLE. A place of darkness.

I feel a new call to write and to draw. I want the time to do it.

So SOCIAL MEDIA — goodbye.

The only spots you will find me on social media are in my groups and on Messenger.

I don’t want any pressure to put something up on any social media. If I want to I will.

Instead I will read more. Go out more. See more people.

I will write, podcast and paint.

I think that backpack in my picture was full of social media.

And I am letting it down.

Then everything else will only be what God inspires me to do.

What about you? Do you feel burdened? What is troubling you? Would you like to lay it down?

What is burdening your life? Ask God to show you.

How will I lay down this burden? Through PRAYER.

“We should try our best to pour out all the burdens in our spirit by prayer until all of them have left us.” Watchman Nee

I’ll be doing this in the coming weeks. I hope to be filled with His Spirit as I spend time with Him, in writing and painting; in living and helping; in being part of His Kingdom.

I am giving away a free PDF of the SIMPLE Method of Bible Study I developed. Check the link below.

This is day 7 of a 30 day writing challenge with Tom Kuegler. Check out his post about this challenge. My Powerful 1 Hour Routine for Quick Success on Medium.

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