Further In

Sometimes you know what is drawing you long before you know exactly how to get there.

That is what began to emerge as I painted Further In.

The way ahead isn't completely defined. But we can recognize what is drawing us.

A path winds through an abundant landscape of flowers, trees and color toward a distant city. Above it hangs an enormous cloud filled with the fiery glory of God. The fire seems to fall upon the city, and yet nothing is consumed. Instead, everything is surrounded by light and Presence.

Even the path itself isn't completely certain. Is it earth? Is it water? The landscape feels familiar, and yet there is something otherworldly about it too.

At first, the glory in the distance seems to be the destination.

Follow the path. Keep going. There is more ahead.

But look again.

The light isn't only in the distance.

It is touching the path. It is reflected in the landscape. It is already here.

And that became the deeper meaning of this painting for me.

We can spend so much of our lives looking toward what is ahead—waiting for the breakthrough, the answer, the fulfillment of a promise, the next place God is leading us. We see something in the distance and recognize, That's where I'm going.

There is nothing wrong with that longing. I believe God places desires in us that keep drawing us deeper into Him.

But His Presence isn't waiting for us at the end of the road.

He's on the road with us.

The glory that seems to be calling from the distance is the same Presence surrounding us here.

And there is another side to the invitation.

Sometimes we become so satisfied with the goodness we have already experienced that we can settle comfortably into where we are. We have known His faithfulness. We have tasted His goodness. We have found peace in His Presence.

And still, there is more.

Not because what He has given us isn't enough, but because He is inexhaustible.

That is the two-way invitation of Further In.

To recognize and receive His Presence right where we are—and at the same time, remain responsive when He draws us deeper.

His Presence is not merely something we pass through on our way to something else.

He is the reward.

He is our satisfaction, our safety and our peace. Ultimately, everything we are searching for is found in Him.

Maybe that is why the path in this painting needed to remain a little mysterious.

We don't always need to see the whole road.

We only need to recognize the One who is drawing us—and discover that He has been with us all along.

Receive the beauty of where you are.

And when He draws you deeper, go further in.