“The 7th Day”
(Resting in the Heart of God)
“By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done.” (Genesis 2:2-3)
I have always been reluctant to write about my work, about the meaning of each work. My philosophy is this: My job as an artist is to create not to explain. I prefer that the viewer, first give their own meaning to what they see, before asking me for mine. However, there are exceptions and this is one of them.
In 1977, I was inspired to create a painting titled: “The 7th Day” (Resting in the Heart of God). For me, 7 represents completeness or perfection (perfect rest). It had to be finished on the 7th day, of the 7th month, of that year. You notice there are four 7’s, the year, the month and the day. The four 7’s represent the Father, Son (Jesus Christ), the Holy Spirit and man all in a state of perfect rest. Add the 7 from the title and at this point, as you can see, there are five sevens, the number for Grace.
The painting is three sided symbolizing Father, Son and Holy Spirit surrounding and holding man (me). It measures 77 inches on each of its three sides. Adding these six sevens to the five there are now eleven. It was not until I started writing this that I looked into the meaning of the number eleven and found it represents, disorder, disorganization and imperfection, at first this disturbed me; however, it soon made sense to me.
Now, the thing is how do I explain it so others see the sense of it as well. The whole point or theme of the painting is about seven and what it represents, which is completeness and perfection. As I said, the first five sevens speak of “Grace,” but when all the sevens are counted there add end up being eleven of them, now there is disorder, disorganization and imperfection, which makes sense because that is what life is in this world.
The painting represents my hope for the future (not what already exists), and my longing to rest in the heart of God. To find perfect peace in the only One who is perfect.
In the painting the naked figure, represents openness, vulnerability and trust. The nakedness represents the fact that we cannot hide anything from God, no matter how much we try to cover ourselves. The nakedness also represents man before shame. As a naked child has no shame, so it was with man before the fall.
The painting shows man is at rest, feeling no shame or guilt, trusting God the Father to protect him no matter what is going on around him. The space in the painting surrounding the figure represents the cares and troubles’ of this world. The painting is God’s desire for my life; to trust Him completely no matter what my circumstances are at any given moment. No matter what is going on around me, I can trust and rest in Him. The figure also represents God in Genesis 2:2-3.
The following are some of the definitions of Rest.
(1). To cease working, exerting oneself so as to refresh oneself.
(2). To cease from effort or activity for a time.
(3). To be at peace.
(4). To be supported.
(5). To rely; depend with on or upon.
(6). To be directed; remain.
(7). Restored or renewed strength.
(8). Free from anxiety or worry.
(9). A balance as of resources.
I see the first three definitions applying to God in Genesis 2:2-3, but not four through nine. Who can support God (number 4)? Who can God rely or depend on (number5)? Who directs God (number 6)? Can God be depleted, if so, how can He be restored and how can His strength be renewed (number 7)? Has God ever suffered from anxiety or worry apart from His life in the flesh as man (number 8)? Does God need to balance His resources (number9)?
Part of what “The 7th Day” represents is the main theme of this book, waiting within the context of resting. Sometimes as it is with me now, waiting and resting conflict. Waiting as the following definitions clearly show is not always a restful thing – (1). To stay or remain in expectation, as of an anticipated action or event. (2). To be or remain in readiness. (3). To remain temporarily neglected or undone. These definitions hardly paint a picture of relaxation but of vigilantes. “The 7th Day” does not portray what I have achieved, but what I hope to experience concerning a specific promise I believe God made to me.
The painting is a way of saying, I have come to the end of something and now I need to rest from further effort and wait for God to finish what I cannot. God says go here or do this and when I have—wait until He finishes what He promises to do and then tells me what to do next. If I hear and obey, I need at that point to trust Him to fulfill His promise. This, for me is the hard part, completely trusting God or that God in fact told me to go or do something at all—that it was not just something the devil or I said. If I do believe it is God, than trusting means waiting patiently and resting in faith until He tells me what to do next.
In order to trust God completely I must learn to surrender every part of myself to Him alone. It has been a long and hard process to learn and thirty-three years (2010) later, I am still not at rest.
I have come close (on one such occasion within minutes) to death several times in the last thirty-three years, all but one of those times were self-inflicted by cutting myself. The one time not self-inflicted was a ruptured appendix. The painting has come close to destruction as well. At one point where the painting was being stored all the buildings burned down right up to the building the painting was in, but the fire was stopped before it caused any damage (not even smoke) to “The 7th Day” or any of the other works I had stored there.
The painting has survived with me for a reason and it is only in the past few years I have begun to realize the full meaning of it and the part it plays in God’s purpose for not only my life, but also the lives of others. I believe God inspired me to create this work because He desires to bless others and me through it, how and when He did not reveal to me until after I reached the lowest point of my life.
For over thirty years, I have had to learn the lessons of waiting on God and waiting for God. This is not unique to me of course; everyone has to—Abraham being the most notable example.
Learning to wait is hard enough (because I hate to wait for anything), but learning to praise God as I wait in joyful expectation for the hope He has put in my heart to be fulfilled; is of course, beyond me in my own strength. It is God’s grace alone through Jesus Christ and by the power of His Holy Spirit that I am still alive, still hoping and waiting for His promise of perfect rest to be fulfilled.
I give up, I surrender, not my will but Yours be done Lord.