Take Me Deeper - May Week 4

My posting is a little late this week as...we had an earthquake at 2.53am Friday morning!! It was 4.3 on the Richter scale and there have been no reports of any injuries or serious damage thankfully. It's only the second earthquake I've ever experienced, and the first one was during the daytime. This one taking place in the middle of the night and waking us from our sleep was even more disconcerting! I couldn't get back to sleep and spent most of yesterday in a stupor!

I'm feeling a lot better toady though, so here's my thoughts and artwork inspired by this week's devotional!

May Week 4 - Rhythms of Grace

Of the suggested readings these were the ones I felt most drawn to:
Psalm 29:11 - The Lord gives strength to his people and blesses them with peace.

Psalm 46:1-6 - God is our shelter and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not be afraid, even if the earth is shaken and mountains fall into the ocean depths; even if seas roar and rage, and the hills are shaken by the violence.

Psalm 62:1 - I wait patiently for God to save me; I depend on him alone.

Psalm 62:5-8 - I depend on God alone; I put my hope in him. he alone protects and saves me; he is my defender and I shall never be defeated. My salvation and honour depend on God; he is my strong protection; he is my shelter.

Psalm 68:19 - Praise the Lord, who carries our burdens day after day; he is the God who saves us.

Isaiah 26:3-4 - You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you. Trust in the Lord for ever; he will always protect us.

Isaiah 40:28-31 - Don't you know? haven't you heard? the Lord is the everlasting God; he created all the world. He never grows tired or weary. No one understands his thoughts. He strengthens those who are weak and tired. Even those who are young grow weak; young people can fall exhausted. But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed.

This week's piece was one that I actually had planed before starting. Basing it on Psalm 46;1-6 I wanted to portray us being within a cave, safe and protected, (perhaps a cave within the hills and mountains that have been the focus of all my May pieces to date), whilst outside the sea is rising into the mountains and crashing, roaring and raging. What was calm is not in tumult, but we are safe in the shelter of the cave - God's protection for us, keeping us safe - "we will not be afraid."

I have no idea why but this piece had to be done in these dark colours. I started off trying to make it lighter, to continue with the pale, light and calm colours I've used throughout May so far but it wasn't having it! I hope it feels more of a cosy darkness than a scary one though!

The birds and stars are in the sky still representing God's presence and the entire creation being His.

This one took a while and I was totally absorbed in it! It has over 140 layers! I started with about half a dozen textures all blended together and went on from there building up the image - definitely a labour of love!
TFL!