The Inspiration:

This picture I started  when I was 18. I have loved drawing galaxies and stars ever since I was a young child. I initially had the idea of drawing the earth with a person inside looking up at the stars, and as I started with the picture I felt that the person inside should be Abraham. As I continued with the initial sketch more ideas kept coming and falling into place. As you can see, Abraham is inside the globe sitting up against a tree, and the branches of the tree spread into forming the continents of the earth. The Scripture encircling the lower part of the earth is Genesis 26:4 where God is actually talking to Isaac, which says, "And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed." I decided to write Scriptures significant to elements in the picture in Hebrew, as I liked the depth and mystery that it brought to the art piece. The lion in the upper left corner is the Lion of Judah, and the lamb in the lower right is the Lamb of God. You can also see a crown of thorns and a set of crucifixion nails in the picture, entwined with the verse Isaiah 53:5. All of the different elements and verses signify how the nations and history were formed by that meeting God had with Abraham, including the salvation of Yeshua the Messiah. The medium I used was oil pastels, and they weren't anything fancy; just cheap pastels you would find at any art supply store, yet they still delivered the beauty and vibrancy that I desired. It took me a year to complete the picture, just working on it a little at a time in between busy work schedules, Hebrew classes, housework, helping in the garden, and the everyday adventures that come with living on a small farm. My favorite part was putting in all the different galaxies and stars; each time before I would start drawing I would pray and ask God to direct my fingers to where He wanted the colors to go, and  I could feel His presence there with me; it felt as if He were right behind me whispering in my ear when to switch colors and where to put each one. It was really fun and I felt like I was able to fully express my worship to God and spend time with Him while I worked on it. I completed the picture in the winter of 2019.