The Blessing Of Imagery

I’ve always been intrigued by the imagery that we use to display spiritual themes, specifically the difficult parts of our spiritual journeys with God. For reasons beyond me, one of the frustrating parts of a spiritual difficulty is the inability to put words to it. It’s almost like without words to frame what is going on, it just feels like chaos inside of our souls. Do you know the type of situation I’m talking about? In the midst of those moments where you just don’t even know what to pray. You’ve got no guardrails for the experience and you just feel lost.

This is one reason why I love reading, listening, or watching other peoples ability to put words to those experiences. It feels like if I could just name and had the proper words to express the weight on my soul, then some of it would leave. Perhaps that is why one of the reasons some songs or sentences really resonate with us, because they give us words to express something we previously had no words for. Being able to put words to a spiritual difficulty is, in itself, a blessing. Often that happens through imagery.

I love reading the Bible through this lens, especially the Psalms. Because these writers give me words and imagery to understand and express the inner difficulties of the Christian life. What goes on inside the soul. In the Psalms we:

• Learn how to picture God’s affection towards us. (Psalm 103)

  • 11  For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

    12  as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

• Learn how to talk about despair because of our sins. (Psalm 40)

  • For evils have encompassed me

    beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me,

    and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me.

• Learn how to talk about anguish of the soul. (Psalm 55)

  • My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

    Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me. And I say, 

    “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; yes, I would wander far away;

    I would lodge in the wilderness;

On and on we could go. Do you see the imagery in these Psalms? The authors are giving us language to think, talk to others, and pray about our current situations. And these images help us make sense about what is going on inside of us. God has given us such a gift in the words of the Bible. He’s given us language to explain and express the good and difficult states of our hearts. For those of you that are in a difficult spiritual state, remember the blessing of imagery. When you are lost about what purpose the chaos that is going on inside of you may have, remember the beauty of imagery that God has given us. May it be like a map of the stars as you navigate the dark waters of difficulty within the soul.

May we read our Bibles all the more! Consider using these words/images (and others!) to pray to God about what is going on in your life. Know that God, in His deep love for you, has given other people words to say, pictures to paint, and songs to sing that are expressions of situations you will walk through. That’s why I love the Psalms— because they are so real and honest to the human experience of ups and downs. Know that God has also given you words. Images. Thoughts. Don’t waste those. If you are a creative person, steward your art well. Giving words to someone who will walk through what you’ve walked through, creating a map for them, in a way.

I recently went through a season where I felt very weak in front of God. I didn’t know how to talk about it and because of that, I felt very hopeless. There was this ache in me about my weakness that I couldn’t fix. Then I heard this song by Benjamin Torrens. In it he talks about laying down his weakness to the Lord. I talked with Benjamin about this song, he told me he wrote it because of his own difficult season. Benjamin’s song helped me put words to my prayers. It helped me frame my difficulty and rely on God.

The blessing of imagery.

I’ve linked the song below. I pray it blesses you as it did me.

Thanking God for imagery today,

Josh.

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