Fruit of the Spirit

24 x 24
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Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Note: Each fruit of the spirit is buried in each flower.

My initial fruit of the spirit painting was the first one in which I incorporated scripture. The idea that came to mind was to paint a flower arrangement with each fruit of the spirit painted or glued in each flower. Halfway through the painting, I started wondering if it made any sense. After all, flowers are not fruit so why was I painting the fruit of the spirit on flowers? At the same time, I was really falling in love with painting, so much so that I feared it could become a major distraction in my life and take time away from family and God, but I was finding so much joy in painting, and really felt that God had put the desire in me to paint and create. Therefore, I asked my husband to pray with me and asked God to confirm for me if He was in this. That night after praying with my husband, I picked up a devotional and read the following devotion of the day.

"In a Ralph Connor book, a wild, wilful lass, Gwen, always accustomed to having her way, meets with a terrible accident which cripples her for life. When she is in a rebellious and aggressive state, a sky pilot, or mountaineer missionary, tells her the parable of the canyon.

"At first, there were no canyons, only the broad, open prairie. The Master of the Prairie one day walked through its tall grasses and asked the Prairie: "Where are your flowers?" The reply was: "Master, I have no seeds".

The Master spoke to the birds. The birds carried seeds of every kind of flower and strewed them far and wide. All summer long the prairie bloomed with crocuses, roses, buffalo beans, crowfoot, wild sunflowers and red lilies. The Master was pleased, but he missed the flowers he loved best - the clematis, the columbine, sweet violets, windflowers, ferns and flowering shrubs.

Once again the Master spoke to the birds. Again they carried all these seeds and strewed them far and wide. But the winds swept fiercely, the sun beat mercilessly. The flowers did not remain. They either flew or withered away.

Then, the Master spoke to the Lightning, who in one swift blow cleft the prairie to the heart. The prairie rocked and groaned for many a day in agony, mourning over its gaping wound. But, the river poured its waters through the cleft, bringing rich, dark soil with it.

Once again the birds strewed seeds, this time in the canyon. The rough rocks were soon covered with soft mosses and trailing vines. Clematis and columbine grew from every nook. Great elms lifted their huge tops high up into the sunlight. At their feet clustered low cedars and balsams. Violets, windflower and maidenhair bloomed. The canyon became the Master's favourite resting place for rest, peace, and joy. Then the "sky pilot" said to her, " 'The fruit or "flowers" of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,...gentleness', and some of these grow only in the canyon."

Gwen softly asked, "Which are the canyon flowers?" The missionary answered, "Patience, kindness, and gentleness. Yet even though love, joy, and peace may bloom in the open spaces, the blossom is never as beautiful, or the perfume as fragrant, as when they are found blooming in the canyon." Gwen sat very still for quite some time, and then longingly said with trembling lips, "There are no flowers in my canyon-only jagged rocks." The missionary lovingly responded, "Someday they will bloom, dear Gwen. The Master will find them, and we will see them too."

The devotion above not only confirmed some things God has been teaching me over the past year, but also confirmed the concept behind the flowers of the spirit painting. I realized it had not been my idea to paint the fruit of the spirit on the flowers but His. Knowing that He was speaking to me concerning these paintings confirmed for me that God does desire that I express my faith through painting and art. I never imagined that God would allow me to express my faith in a way that brings me so much joy! Genesis 1:27 tells us that we were created in God's image, and God was certainly creative when He made the earth. He "painted" the flowers and animals, and saw that his creation was good. He delights in his creations. Its only natural that his creations, human beings, love to create, and I believe he desires that we use our creativity to bring glory to Him. My prayer is that these paintings would bring life and joy to those who view them and that they would be constant reminders of the truth in the homes where they hang. I pray that as Deuteronomy 6 tells us, they would be like God's word "written on our doorposts and on our gates"-a constant reminder of God's word and his love.

My three year old namesake ended up with this painting. When her mom showed her the painting, she asked if she could smell the flowers. Maybe next time I'll paint her a scratch and sniff version of "Flowers of the Spirit." I pray that the fruit of the spirit would naturally flow from her life as she grows closer and closer to Christ and that when she comes to her "canyons", she would remember that God is working in her life in ways she may not understand, but all that He has for her is good. Amen