Watercolor and Embroidery: Exploring Redemption and Healing in Isaiah 61

Reflections on the Process: Joy in the Journey

I’m thankful to have finished this piece in just over two weeks. My goal was to submit it for an art show deadline of August 1. With limited time, I didn’t know if it would be possible, but God gave me the strength, motivation and time to complete it. 

I felt a lot of joy as I worked on this one and reflected on God’s promises of redemption in Isaiah. I’ve found the process itself to be reflective of this concept as well. When I was completing the painting, I started to think I had pushed it too far and passed the point of salvageability. It looked like I was going to have to give up and redo it. But the painting itself was “redeemed,” and in the end it turned out better than I had hoped for.

While the stitching is still a slow process, I have become more used to it and find it more relaxing and enjoyable now. It allows me to slow down and meditate on the promises that I have in mind as I add physicality to the piece, overlapping chain stitches, stem stitches and French knots. 

Biblical Symbolism: Water and Trees

As I move forward with my Rapha series (Rapha means healing in Hebrew), I wanted to expand on the concept of water as a symbol of healing and restoration (discussed in my previous blog), and add the concept of new growth/life through the symbol of trees/flowers. They are also connected to the theme of redemption in the book of Isaiah.

Inspiration: Isaiah 61

The inspiration for this particular piece is Isaiah 61, a passage that speaks of the good news that God’s servant (the Messiah, Jesus) proclaims and its effects. 

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

    because the Lord has anointed me

    to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

    to proclaim freedom for the captives

    and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

    and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

    and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

    instead of ashes,

the oil of joy

    instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

    instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

    a planting of the Lord

    for the display of his splendor.” (Isaiah 61:1-3)

Through Jesus, broken hearts are bound up, captives are freed, mourning is turned to joy and despair to hope. For the original audience, the Jewish people in exile, this message might have seemed a far cry from their present experience. Yet it was promised by God. Their ashes would be replaced with beauty. They would be redeemed by the Lord and called “oaks of righteousness.” This is the new life that God brings from the ashes.

In the painting, the tree overlaps the portrait as if the blossoms were a “crown of beauty” arraying the head, drawing from the water of life.

Personal Significance

For me personally, this passage carries a special significance. I’m sure I had read it many times before, but I recall it really coming alive to me at a conference in 2017, less than a year after I had been through a very difficult and traumatic experience regarding my faith. I remember hearing the words of this passage as if they were addressing me directly. That in the midst of the sorrow, despair and doubt that I was struggling with and experiencing, God promised to give me a crown of beauty instead of ashes through Jesus. This was the start of healing and restoration for me after that experience, although the process is still ongoing even all these years later.

When I start to feel despair or doubt, this passage is a beautiful reminder of the hope I have in Jesus, my Redeemer. He is still redeeming and healing. 

Arrayed by the Redeemer

I especially love the end of the passage, which speaks of the redeemed person’s delight in the Lord. It is the song of a bride on her wedding day. She sings of the One who has saved and redeemed her with such joy:

“I delight greatly in the Lord;

    my soul rejoices in my God.

For he has clothed me with garments of salvation

    and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,

as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,

    and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” (Isaiah 61:10)

The Lord has arrayed her with garments of salvation and a robe of His righteousness. Just as He has given her a crown of beauty, the oil of gladness and a garment of praise. He has taken her shame and replaced it with dignity and everlasting joy. This is the gift of God through Jesus, who took her sin and shame on Himself on the cross. He has given her His perfect righteousness by faith, though she doesn’t deserve it. This adornment from the Lord leads to joy, restoration, and new growth.

“For as the soil makes the sprout come up

    and a garden causes seeds to grow,

so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness

    and praise spring up before all nations.”

Final Thoughts

I’m excited to continue exploring this concept of redemption and healing in my next pieces, and the depths and riches of God’s promises in the book of Isaiah.