Rusty Swords Acrylic on Canvas Original size: 24” x 36.”
Painted January 2018. In the dream early 2017,
Ronelda found herself at an abandoned and rustic looking beach. The sky was dark and gloomy. As Ronelda looked at the beachhead, she could see the ocean tide rolling in with the ebb and flow of the tide. Ronelda then saw swords with rust all over them sticking out of the sand. All the swords handles were buried deep in the sand, and only the rusty blades were sticking straight up. It had looked as if the swords had been there for a long time and had corroded over time. As Ronelda was watching the ebb and flow of the tide come in, she then heard a voice speak and say, “Until the vexation is complete.” Psa 31:9 Be gracious unto me, Jehovah, for I am in trouble: mine eye wasteth away with vexation, my soul and my belly. Eccles 1:18 For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. Mark 3:5 And He glanced around at them with vexation and anger, grieved at the hardening of their hearts, and said to the man, hold out your hand. He held it out, and his hand was [completely] restored. After waking up, Ronelda was curious to know what ‘vexation’ meant and in the dictionary, it says the state of being annoyed, frustrated, or worried. Why were there so many rusty swords? Ronelda had a sense that the struggles would continue until she took up her sword to fight. Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ronelda knew that God was calling her to pull out her sword (The Word Of God) and wheel the power and authority of that sword through the mighty Holy Spirit against the enemy. Ronelda then saw her self pulling out her rusty sword from her sheave, just like an ostrich pulls his head out of the sand and realizes the reality it faces in life. This sword or arrow was rusty, so as Ronelda picked it up, in her Spirit, from out of the sand, it became shiny and polished, then lightning hit it, and Ronelda knew she was ready for battle. Isaiah 49:2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand, he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. It is a polished arrow that hits the target. Like the ebb and flow of the ocean’s tide, things come and go, and life does go on. Seasons come and go, but our hope is in an Eternal God who is the same yesterday, today and forever Who never changes with the seasons of life. It is a journey that we are on.
We encourage each one to pick up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Eph 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Hebrew 4:12 Ronelda and Barry
