Dirty Paint Brushes!

Tomorrow all the schools finally go back after the long summer holidays - like my granny always used to say this makes for "happy mothers, sad children." My favourite part of going back to school was getting to buy stationary, I was (still am!) a stationary fundi. 

So today I started cleaning my paintbrushes, because I start art class again tomorrow! Yippeee! Joy! It's been a long summer break from my once a week playtime of zoning out to simply pour some great oil on canvas. I have been painting for about 10 months in total now and I truly enjoy the time out. My teacher is really awesome too, she had a sabbatical for 3 months last year and I can truly say I missed her class. She is a great believer who has this amazing studio and although she does not try to hard, she has created this space. That is how I see her class, a space to just come and be. I am not interested in being Van Gogh or Monet (although I wouldnt mind if this natural ability just oozed out of me!) so I like the space where we just get to explore, no perfection no pressure, just learning and enjoying. My kind of place.

So while I was smiling away and cleaning my paintbrushes, a task I dont usually indulge in, I learned some amazing truth. I used a natural soap comprised of only lamb fat to wash the brushes and it really worked well in getting all the old, hardened paint off. I had to really work with some of those paintbrushes because they were so hard. But as I scrubbed them and wiped them and scrubbed them some more, I started to see which colours were still stuck on the bristles and clogging up the hair. The harder I worked the more came off and I was amazed at how the colours ran out, even though it was difficult to tell beforehand what colours were actually clogging up the brush. This is often how it is with a believers life, wounds clog up the flow of an individual's calling and design in God. 

In 2010 I wrote a bold quote in my journal and underlined it. "Healing is a necessary part of every believers journey, it is not optional, it is essential."
Many believers try and skip out on actually allowing God to uncover what is lieing beneath the surface. If you actually allow God the chance to wash you correctly, you will be suprised at what is actually undergirding so many of the decisions you may be making. Just as surprised as I was to discover what colour paint was clogging up the brush. I will confess - some brushes were just plain stubborn and I felt like I had to give it a good talking to! The easy to clean brushes became my best friends, I just wanted to kiss them, I love those "I'm letting it all go" brushes! They just wanna be clean, they just want to be used to create beauty, they want to be helpful and fruitful in the hands of the painter, they want to live out their purpose - to be used to create. They want to touch the paint and feel it all over them, oh boy are they cool!

You know that scripture in the Psalms where God actually says - cast your cares on me because I want to care for you? (psalm 55) Well He means it, He wants to heal your wounds, He wants to wash you in the Blood of the Lamb daily, so that you can be used to in the hands of the Master Painter to fill the world with the salvation message of deepest Colour. Truth can paint over a thousand lies, and correct a thousand wrongs. Justice and Righteousness are the foundation of His throne of purest light! But He cannot and will not used a clogged up pipe, because the water of His Holy Spirit wont flow freely. Healing is a necessary part of this journey and both you and I need it daily and forever into eternity.

How have you gone to God for His Healing Touch? What is God wanting to touch in your life and heal? Let go and let God, the process is sometimes hard but the end result is worth it! Dont be afraid to let go and heal! Yeshua is the door to the greatest Healing possible!