Journey of Faith

Hello Friends,

This month's Path of Positivity challenge is "Faith" and I have just the thing for it. I just finished a layout in my sketch journal the other day and it will fit the challenge perfectly. The young man I drew on November 16 after watching a Mark Crilley tutorial. I started the 2nd page in church a week ago. 
I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, but I knew I wanted to tie it into my drawing somehow.

The way I usually do art as a part of my worship is intuitive. The colours and strokes become a sort of dance over my page with no thought of composition and no picture in mind. At some point, during the process or later, pictures or ideas suggest themselves to me; similar to how an ink blot or wallpaper pattern may suggest a specific form to your mind. The levels developing on my page suggested a typical faith journey to me, from childhood to adult.

As a child we believe everything that we are told, from the Creation story to the Easter Bunny. As we grow we begin to question and test things, to see what is real and what is not. This is an important part of our growth. How we process this period of our development usually determines where we end up on our faith walk. Some people will end up in a different place than I have depicted. I have no quarrel with you. I can only relate what my own experience has taught me.

 I named my drawing "The Skeptic" because of the expression on his face.

The Disillusionment phase can lead to much suffering, especially if pressing questions (or prayers) go unanswered. When I was 15, I had a question that I never spoke out loud to anyone. It was actually more of an accusation than a question. "If God really loved the world so much, why didn't he come himself instead of sending his poor son?"

When I was 18, my question was answered, though I had never said it out loud to anyone. One day brother spontaneously showed me John chapter one in the bible. "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." Jesus was God in the flesh. God actually did come himself; I had just never understood that.

My faith journey has continued from that day to this. I have had times of hurt, disillusionment, anger and even unbelief. But each time I work it through with my God, each time he answers my hard questions or just gives me peace in not knowing, my confidence in his unfailing love for me is stronger than before.

Wherever you are in your faith journey, God loves you with an everlasting love, even or maybe especially, if you are a skeptic. If you don't believe me, ask him to show you. If you are sincere, I guarantee you will be surprised by his love. He is not an idea or a religion. He is a tangible person, he is loving and he is real.

Thank you for visiting my blog today. If you do not believe everything I have said in this post, I hope you will believe this: You are a precious, beautiful person with a divine purpose to be on this earth. You are not a mistake.

Blessing hugs,
Teresa

Challenges:
Path of Positivity - Faith
Word Art Wednesday - Anything goes
Paint Party Friday - art