I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33 The tiny dove rests quietly ln her nest despite the crashing waterfall and the thundering storm around her. We are not promised a life without storms. Evil is always present in this world, represented by the beastly image; but the cross of Christ covers it all and is victorious. Notice the suggestion of Christ in the boulder, facing the storms with confidence. We too can find a hiding place as we trust in the One who has power over the storms. We can confidently say, “Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) He is our strong rock and refuge. Only in Christ who triumphed over death, leaving an empty tomb and offering life beyond death, can we have peace in the midst of the storm. When I was painting “Peace in the Midst of the Storm,” I remembered a story I heard years ago in a revival about a competition among artists trying to paint “peace.” The winning picture involved a bird, protected and secure in a storm. That story challenged me to create a message of contrast; a stormy, foreboding painting that reminded me of the storms of pain, suffering and death we face in life; but that also reflected God’s blessings of faith, hope and love…the BITTER and yet the SWEET. I noticed an iconic profile of a face in the cliff that reminded me of Christ. This Rock was facing stormy winds and lightning and a crushing waterfall-turmoil-vs. the calm peace of the dove on its nest, secure in the cleft of the rock. The verse John 16:33 came to my mind where Jesus says, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
