I love this painting by John Buxton* of 18th-century frontier women. It captures the anxiety of the times so beautifully. Even the women's clothing is very authentic. You can almost reach out and feel the homespun and linen. The baby is so well drawn she looks real - I'm convinced that she's a she:) I'm wondering what it is they're looking at so intently. Their men are away, maybe in the fields, but most likely doing something far more worrisome by the expression on their faces. What about you? Have you been beset by anxiety lately? Wondering what the new year will bring? I'm guilty of having an anxious heart at times. More times than I care to count, actually. There are a number of great unknowns in my life right now. Yours too, I'm sure. Just yesterday I found this wonderful passage from the old devotional, Springs in the Valley:
When a man is living on God's plan he has no need to worry himself about his trade, or about his house, or about anything that belongs to him. The only thing a man may be anxious about in this life is whether he is working on God's plan, doing God's work; and if that is so, all the care of everything else is back on God.
Did you notice the unusual wording above? I said that the painting "captures the anxiety of the times so beautifully." Anxiety is not beautiful, doesn't feel beautiful, but it can be beautiful if we give our worries to Him.
If the Lord careth for thee, be thyself at rest. -Archbishop Leighton
*John Buxton.com