The Lighthouse I Didn’t Know I Needed

Every year around my birthday, I like to create something meaningful. This year, I decided I wanted to paint. I didn’t have a plan or a theme. I simply wanted to create something random, abstract, and beautiful.

I spent days searching for inspiration, but nothing felt right.

Then, just a few days before my birthday, I woke up with one word repeating in my mind:

Lighthouse.

It wasn’t something I had been thinking about. It wasn’t on my Pinterest board or in my search history. It was simply there, ringing in my spirit.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized it wasn’t just an idea for a painting. It was a reflection of my walk with God over the past year.

I shared it with a friend, and before I could even explain why I wanted to paint a lighthouse, she smiled and said something that stopped me in my tracks.

“That’s funny… I wanted to suggest painting a lighthouse to you yesterday.”

At that moment, I knew this wasn’t just a coincidence.

Ironically, this had nothing to do with the fact that I’ve attended Lighthouse Church for over five years. If it were simply because of the church’s name, I probably would have painted one years ago. This felt different.

This felt prophetic.

As I reflected on the past year, I realized God had been exactly that to me. A lighthouse.

Life has brought its share of storms, uncertainty, waiting, unexpected turns, and moments when I couldn’t see very far ahead. Yet through every season, God remained constant. He didn’t always calm the storm immediately, but He never stopped shining. His presence became my direction when I couldn’t trust my own understanding.

That’s what a lighthouse does.

It doesn’t remove the darkness.

It doesn’t stop the waves.

It doesn’t silence the wind.

It simply stands, unwavering, reminding every ship that there is still a safe way home.

When I finally put brush to canvas, I wasn’t just painting a lighthouse. I was painting a testimony.

Interestingly, I didn’t even start it before my birthday. The canvas sat empty until the very last day of the month, several weeks later and finished it that moment. But somehow, that feels fitting.

Some gifts don’t arrive on the exact date you expect.

Some revelations take time.

Some testimonies aren’t complete until you’ve walked through a little more of the journey.

So although the painting came after my birthday, I still consider it my birthday gift, not from myself, but from God.

Every time I look at it, I’m reminded that no matter how fierce the storm becomes, my focus should never be on the waves. It should always be on the Light.

Because the storm is temporary.

The Lighthouse remains.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” — Psalm 46:1

This painting now hangs as more than artwork. It is a daily reminder that through every season, every unanswered question, and every unexpected wave, God has been and will always be my Lighthouse.