Did you know there’s such a thing as an ice volcano? I did not. When the Lord gave me this image a few days ago, with the phrase – and it didn’t go away by Sunday, I figured I had better ask Him what it means. At first I thought of a volcano spitting the usual fire and brimstone and googled images, but then … an ice volcano? Perhaps the Lord is saying don’t let appearances deceive you. I discovered that ice volcanoes spit out ice! With immense force.
As I painted the “immense force” part struck a chord, and it is His glory that is coming forth. Not in a slow-flow like lava, but in extreme eruptive activity! The word He gave is “expect the unexpected”, not only appropriate because it is the title of one of my favourite of Narelle Crabtree’s sermons and David Crabtree was preaching at Glory City, but because amidst this season of global contagion disaster, the unexpected is exactly what we should expect from our God. Nobody expects icy mountains to erupt. No one expects icebergs to be anything more than a chunk of ice. These cryovolcanoes are even found on other planets.
As I painted, the sheer unapproachable, hostile barrenness became more evident, yet it hides what is happening deep within. I believe the Lord is saying, “Don’t look with your eyes”. In the last few minutes I changed the foreground of the painting. It became like an ice floe pathway. I felt the Lord saying “I will show you the way through”.
Several people gave me explanations of what they had seen (if you were one of those, please send me what you told me, and I’ll add it in the comments) – they were powerful interpretations.
Post Script: Well, what can I say, we all know what happened the week after this was painted. The world went into a crazy spin of Covid19 responses.

Title: Expect the Unexpected
Size: 90cm x 90cm
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Painted: Live at Glory City Church, 15th March 2020