Compassion

Here’s a painting from when I attended a prophetic art retreat. In my prayer journal I wrote:

“Compassion - we were supposed to be painting, inspired by worship music. But I was overwhelmed with anxiety and so began to paint this teardrop. I have no idea if it was inspired by God or not. But I was definitely praying whilst painting it. I wanted the bottom of the teardrop to be deeper in colour - full of the pain I was feeling. But as I painted, I was reminded that God cries tears for me, tears of compassion. He knew my pain at that moment, and let me paint it as he loved me. Later, when it was dry, I considered what to do behind it. I looked at different texts, but ended up writing bible verses about God’s compassion for us - God’s compassion for me. But as I write this now, I’m reminded that God doesn’t just have compassion on me then, but every time I’m filled with anxiety and pain. Thank you Father.” 6 June 17

I’ve used the symbol of a teardrop to represent compassion several times since that original painting. I like to think I’ve got better at painting the ombre too - the blue going from light to dark. Here’s an inked version - created by brushing distressed inks through a homemade stencil.