God Uses Ordinary People to do Extraordinary Things!
On April 3, 2011, I was attending a 3-day Christian retreat called the Walk to Emmaus with my dad and three of my sons. I gave a talk Saturday afternoon about Christian action and one of the statements I made that day was, "God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called". While speaking those words, I had no idea God was going to put that theory to the test with me the following day. On Sunday morning, I woke up with Him speaking to me with a very clear message.
The day before, I was looking at a couple pictures of Jesus by different artists. I made several subconscious statements to God about how I didn't like the way the artists represented Him as being some frail, weak guy. My vision of Jesus has always been a strong, handsome man with a great smile and eyes that could pierce clear through you. So, that day God instructed me to paint a portrait of Him to share to the world. One that realistically represented the vision He would give to me.
I always felt since Jesus was God's only son and God created everything, He certainly would have created Jesus to be the ideal man. In addition to His perfect and sinless nature, why wouldn't God make Jesus the most handsome, strong, Jewish man who was ever born? That is exactly the vision He gave me that day. A handsome man full of strength, with eyes that follow you wherever you go, and welcoming smile that clearly speaks, "I love you"!
There was only one problem with this equation. I was not a portrait artist and for that matter, I really hadn't oil painted since I was a little boy. It's pretty easy to blow off an unrealistic notion like that and just say, "Sorry God, but I'm not qualified for that job". Unfortunately, when God gets an idea in His mind, He pretty much sticks with it. I came home Sunday night and could hardly sleep for three nights. If you knew me, you would know sleeping is not one of my problems. After three nights of restless sleep, I finally gave in and went to Hobby Lobby to see about getting some supplies to do this job He was calling me to do.
When I got there, I was blown away at the cost of oil paints, brushes, canvases, and all the necessary items I needed to get this job done. As I was standing in the aisle, I prayed to God to give me an answer to this problem. I only had an extra $50.00 at the time and the cost of supplies I felt I needed went way into the hundreds of dollars. After all, I felt I needed the best of everything to do this for Him. But God, answered me very clearly by saying, "get the cheapest of everything, I'll take care of making it the best".
So that is exactly what I did and the supplies were just under $49.00. I guess the rest of the story is pretty much a miracle in my mind. Since I had never painted a portrait and had not painted with oils since the second grade, I was clueless what I was doing. With the Holy Spirit guiding my hands, I was truly amazed at how the painting began to look just like the image Jesus placed in my mind. I would never begin to say that this is exactly what Jesus looks like. I do know it is the image He gave me and there is absolutely no way I could have created the painting without Him working through me. You may see the painting at http://www.divinemissions.com/ .
My hope and prayer is He will use this painting and this story to touch many lives and bring those who are lost to know Him. May we always listen to the little whispers from Him and always be honored to be His children and servants.
In His service,
Kent Gordon
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