I was at a conference in Rochelle, Illinois in 2014. I had been going for a few years and knew the standard for how it proceeded. But that year something new came. An artist was invited to create a prophetic art drawing during the musical worship portion of the service. I was excited to see what that was about! I waited excitedly trying to make sure I was in a place I could see the canvas. When the music began the artist began. The image formed into a portal of clouds in the background. I was thrown into a state of shock and awe. I grabbed my sketchbook from my purse and flipped to a page desperately. THERE WAS THE VERY SAME PORTAL! God had shown me the same thing! What was going on? The atmosphere of the place was heavy with the Glory of God and I could hardly stand. The image developed into the most intense thing I had ever seen. I was absolutely amazed and could not look away. I just gazed and God spoke to my spirit. It was as if God had many things to say and I was pulling His words out of a painting. These things went deep into me faster than any sermon or word spoken over me. There were volumes of understanding that came simply by seeing.
I could not hold in my fascination with this new form of worship. I had never seen anyone do this before. All I knew was music in the church. After the service, I simply HAD to meet this artist! I approached him awkwardly because I was intimidated by his “famous” status as a well-known and successful chalk artist in Chicago. I was grateful he didn’t draw back in any way from me. I thought he might not want to be bothered by the ‘common folk’. But instead he seemed delighted at my questions about art and the prophetic nature of the piece. I wondered how that process went and why he did what he did. I was VERY curious about his chalk materials. I had never seen chalk so beautiful before.
Then the real question came that was sitting on my heart. I asked, “Aren’t you afraid of getting up in front of all these people and drawing live?” I had been an artist since I can remember. But I kept my art to myself. I was self-conscious about showing anyone my drawings and I was even more self-conscious about the prophetic gift that was being stirred up in me. Only very recently before my encounter with this artist had God started to speak to me with images and I began to sketch them. In my mind I thought, “There is no way I am going to tell people that God speaks to me like this. You don’t just confess that you have visions in your head. They will think I’m insane for sure.” I kept everything between me and God because I did not want to appear crazy. When I asked this question, Shaun paused a moment then said, “Should I hide my light under a bushel?” He went on after this with excited conversation with the group gathering around him but I could not hear anything more. I was thrown into a state of deep distress and anguish in my heart. I was so severely convicted, I nearly went down on my knees right there in front of everyone. I repented to God in my heart about hiding the gift he had given me. I repented that I let my insecurities stand in the way of what He wanted. I realized that I did not get a choice in the matter. This art gift had absolutely NOTHING to do with me. I mourned the lost time deep inside me, trying not to let anyone see what was happening to me. From that moment on, I decided to start sharing my art publicly. I had a conviction that it was not mine, but God’s.