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FINE ART by MATT PHILLEO
Smoldering Wick
30" x 40," Acrylic on Canvas,
©2017 Matt Philleo
It is part of the human experience to go through suffering. If you have lived for any length of time, you know what it is like to feel the pain of broken relationships, financial and health struggles, and even death. I know I have. That is what this painting is about.
Recently, I had gone through a time when I felt very depressed and distant from God. Ever been there? Well, when I feel discouraged, and want to get close to God, I read the Bible, his letter of love and truth to all of us. I found a passage in the book of Isaiah that spoke to me.
"A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice..." (Isaiah 42:3)
This verse written prophetically almost 700 years before Christ is describing the person of Jesus, the suffering servant who would die on the cross to pay the price for all our sins and rise from the grave to give us new life.
In the painting, you see a man who is obviously distressed. Maybe he lost his wife. Maybe he was told he has cancer. Maybe his business was turned upside down. Or maybe things are going well for him, but inside he is filled with the turmoil of knowing his failings and mistakes and doesn't know how to make amends. You fill in the blanks.
But he is reading his Bible and finding encouragement. His servant (symbolic of Jesus Christ) is comforting him. The lamp, symbolic of his inner spiritual condition, shows a small flame still burning. In the pre-electric light days, a servant would trim the wick of a lamp with a special scissors, cutting off all the blackened areas, and raise it up so it would burn brighter. This is what God wants to do in our lives. He gets rid of the sins, the wounds, the hurts, and lifts us up to our full potential.
Then the servant would clean the glass chimney so the light would shine its brightest. Finally, he would fill the lamp with fresh oil, so it would be able to burn for a long time. This is symbolic of how God fills us with His Holy Spirit to give us peace, joy, and empower us to live a blessed life, to help us to stop sinning, and to be a source of encouragement and blessing to others.
There is a map on the wall, symbolic of the many paths we can take in life. We can make many decisions; some are good, some are bad, and some are disastrous. After taking a wrong turn in life, we can always turn to Jesus, who will take our mistakes and change them into something beautiful if we give Him the opportunity.
Jesus Himself said as recorded in the New Testament book of John, Chapter 14 and verse 6: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by Me." Jesus is the path to true peace and everlasting life. He has it all. If you are discouraged, He longs to fill you up with His peace and joy, in a never ending supply.
This is the message of my painting. If you are discouraged, depressed, or seeking a closer relationship with God, know that He will never throw you out. He will not snuff out your flame, but help you to burn brighter than you ever thought possible.
©2017 Matt Philleo
It is part of the human experience to go through suffering. If you have lived for any length of time, you know what it is like to feel the pain of broken relationships, financial and health struggles, and even death. I know I have. That is what this painting is about.
Recently, I had gone through a time when I felt very depressed and distant from God. Ever been there? Well, when I feel discouraged, and want to get close to God, I read the Bible, his letter of love and truth to all of us. I found a passage in the book of Isaiah that spoke to me.
"A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice..." (Isaiah 42:3)
This verse written prophetically almost 700 years before Christ is describing the person of Jesus, the suffering servant who would die on the cross to pay the price for all our sins and rise from the grave to give us new life.
In the painting, you see a man who is obviously distressed. Maybe he lost his wife. Maybe he was told he has cancer. Maybe his business was turned upside down. Or maybe things are going well for him, but inside he is filled with the turmoil of knowing his failings and mistakes and doesn't know how to make amends. You fill in the blanks.
But he is reading his Bible and finding encouragement. His servant (symbolic of Jesus Christ) is comforting him. The lamp, symbolic of his inner spiritual condition, shows a small flame still burning. In the pre-electric light days, a servant would trim the wick of a lamp with a special scissors, cutting off all the blackened areas, and raise it up so it would burn brighter. This is what God wants to do in our lives. He gets rid of the sins, the wounds, the hurts, and lifts us up to our full potential.
Then the servant would clean the glass chimney so the light would shine its brightest. Finally, he would fill the lamp with fresh oil, so it would be able to burn for a long time. This is symbolic of how God fills us with His Holy Spirit to give us peace, joy, and empower us to live a blessed life, to help us to stop sinning, and to be a source of encouragement and blessing to others.
There is a map on the wall, symbolic of the many paths we can take in life. We can make many decisions; some are good, some are bad, and some are disastrous. After taking a wrong turn in life, we can always turn to Jesus, who will take our mistakes and change them into something beautiful if we give Him the opportunity.
Jesus Himself said as recorded in the New Testament book of John, Chapter 14 and verse 6: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by Me." Jesus is the path to true peace and everlasting life. He has it all. If you are discouraged, He longs to fill you up with His peace and joy, in a never ending supply.
This is the message of my painting. If you are discouraged, depressed, or seeking a closer relationship with God, know that He will never throw you out. He will not snuff out your flame, but help you to burn brighter than you ever thought possible.
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