You are Not Forgotten | Prophetic Photography

What is prophetic photography? It's simply a photo with an encouraging message attached to it. Sometimes, God inspires photographers with a theme for the photo before they take the picture, and other times, He reveals a message at a later time, so they can encourage a specific person.

Shortly after my trip to check out the Bethel School of Creativity, I visited my cousin in Half Moon Bay. With all the stunning views, I was looking forward to seeing the sunset!

By the way, I took all the photos in this post using my Samsung Galaxy Note 9. I own a D-SLR, but, as "they" say, the best camera is the one you have with you.

Just as the sun was about to set, my cousin had to take an important phone call. We pulled the car over at what I originally perceived to be one of the least glamorous photo spots in Half Moon Bay.

I hopped out, phone in hand, not sure if it was worth trying to take pictures in the cold weather with a less than optimal view of the ocean, as seen in the next photo:

Between me and the coveted sunset beach was a field of weeds and a train track. Sometimes, the obstructions that lie in between us and our dreams turn out to be the keys to discovering those dreams. In this case, the ugly weeds were actually going to be the subject matter for my *first ever* prophetic photo.

I was trying to figure out how to get those annoying weeds out of the photo so that I could capture the marvelous sunset.

Suddenly, I felt God prompting me to do the exact opposite. "Zoom in!" I sensed Him whisper in my ear as an icy ocean breeze prickled my skin.

Zoom in on what? I wondered.

Then, God revealed to me the unexpected beauty in the weeds I was trying to avoid. Mixed in with pricklies and grasses were tiny, delicate wildflowers that might technically be classified as weeds by some, but are actually God's handiwork to decorate the fields. They are hidden beauty that not everyone sees.

To discover this beauty, I had to change my perspective. I literally had to kneel so that I could get this shot:

You can sort of make out the railroad tracks between the flower and the beach if you look closely.

The dead sticks and stalks that I was worried would block the sunset ended up framing it really nicely, providing a dark contrast against the yellow sun and even helping to create a story. These yellow flowers remind me of mustard flowers. In the Bible, the mustard seed symbolizes faith. So this photo illustrates that sometimes, we (the flowers) need to have faith to look past the trials (dead branches) that try to hide God's power (symbolized in this photo by the sun).

Excited now, I began hunting for what message or story God might be trying to show me. The following photo is the one that captures it best:

If you look closely, you can see a railroad track, which isn't normally the best real estate. Know that you are planted just where God wants you. See those hills and valleys? They don't actually separate you from God. He is holding your hand and loves you where you are planted.

Do you ever feel small, insignificant, or overlooked? You are not forgotten. You are like the little wildflower growing among weeds, but God sees you, and He celebrates your hidden beauty.

In this photo, the sun represents God, and the ray of light demonstrates that even when God appears to be far away, He is reaching out and kissing your cheek. He delights in you and loves you more than you can ever imagine. God adores you like you're the only flower in the garden.

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Do you want to learn to take breathtaking photos?

My class Photography 101 teaches you how to take amazing pictures even if all you have is an old camera or phone to work with. (Photography 201 gets into how to use the fancy settings of a DSLR camera.)

Even though these photography classes don't teach spiritual concepts, you will learn how to tell a story with your camera, which will help you if you're interested in taking it further to do prophetic photography with Father God outside of class time. For more info, visit the Classes tab of this website. Ready to sign up? Here is the link to the enrollment form.