The Power of Pictures

I didn’t have everything I needed, but there was nothing that could stop me! 

It all started with a picture on Facebook. Yes, a picture. A yummy, gooey-looking picture that drove me to the impulsion of making that dessert no matter what. I knew I would have to improvise, but for sure that sugary goodness would end up as part of our after-dinner treat that night. 

That’s the power of pictures! 

Remember “Show and Tell Day”? During my primary school years, I always looked forward to sharing my collected treasures. Now as a teacher, I remind my intermediate students to “show, don’t tell” when writing their narratives. As a writer, I have to paint pictures that engage my readers and enable them to experience my stories vicariously. 

All of us have pictures and stories waiting to be shared. We might not be a Michael Angelo, a Da Vinci, a Shakespeare, or a Hemingway, but as children of God and with the Holy Spirit in us, we have been equipped to accomplish this. 

Pictures are painted, drawn, etched, or sketched on paper, canvas, or any other concrete material. But they are most potent when painted on the canvas of the human heart and mind. 

Sometimes grasping those images might be like catching butterflies. They could be so vibrant, flitting, intense, or buried deep down in the recesses of our minds that it can take a moment for our brains to recollect them. But they are implanted and have made their mark in our lives. 

A dear aunt of mine passed away recently. Although saddened by her demise, I was too shocked to break down and cry when I first received the news. A week later, when I had the chance to process and write my message for the family to read at her funeral, I shed my tears. I cried tears of sadness, knowing I am no longer able to see, hear, or visit with her. But most significantly, I sobbed tears of gladness as beautiful graphics of her love and respect flooded my mind and stirred my heart.

Our Heavenly Father painted pictures from before the earth existed and continues to paint them today. He brushed the sky with seven beautiful colors after the flood to remind Noah and his family of God’s promise that He would not destroy the earth in the same way again. He showered down manna from heaven for food and guided the Israelites with the cloud by day and the fire by night as they escaped Egypt. God displays visuals to manifest His love of mankind. The most compelling portrait He painted of His love for us is His only Son, Jesus Christ; God’s divine masterpiece who pardons our sins, and promises eternal life.

Jesus did a lot of picture painting. He used illustrations of vineyards and fields, sheep and shepherds, wells, and streams to demonstrate His point. He painted brushstrokes of His love for His disciples in the precious moments He spent with them. 

Jesus encourages us to paint pictures not only in our relationship with Him but also with others. He tells us in Romans 13:34-35 to love one another and by our doing this all men will know that we are His disciples. When a Pharisee asked Him what the greatest commandment in the law was, Jesus answered: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself ” (Matthew 22:37, 39). 

 So how do we paint a portrait of love?

As individuals fearfully and uniquely created, we paint a picture of love in distinct ways. I demonstrate my love in giving gifts, praying for others, and verbalizing the words, “I love you” to my loved ones. My adult children stamp impressions of love in my heart as they daily call my husband and me to check on us. Love is constantly sketched in our hearts when our pastor and staff keep the connection going online since we can’t be physically together in worship. I glimpse love when my high school classmate sews masks and sends it to a few of us who don’t sew or own a sewing machine. I see the love in the physicians, nurses, grocery clerks, truck drivers, and our uniformed men and women who risk their lives in service for us all.  I witness love when my sister-in-law drives an hour from her house and back just to help me clean my classroom. 

But we don’t manifest love just in what we do. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” We show love in our being–how we relate with others. 

What pictures are you painting in the hearts and minds of those you love?