I started with an acrylic pour and then modified it for my painting of a diver connected to the surface. The sky portion represents Heaven and has a layer of interference gold (which is a little hard to photograph). The turbulent water below represents this world and all its influences. The diving suit and helmet protect the diver from the elements around it. Without the helmet with its supply of air, the diver would drown. I have chosen to show the connection of the air hose going directly up to the air and supplied by God, rather than from a tank on the diver’s back. I have painted a net in the diver’s hands to show that our purpose is not only to survive in this world but to fish for souls for God’s kingdom.

We are to be in the world, but not of the world and to do that we need protection from God, just like the diver needs protection from the water and a supply of air which humans can’t get from the watery environment.
The helmet of Salvation (that Jesus bought for us) connects us to Heaven by God’s Holy Spirit. We need to have constant connection with God through His Spirit and His Word to protect our minds from the influences of the world so that we can have the mind of Christ and access His wisdom for the spiritual battles we face.
Years after I became a Christian, the Lord used a visual metaphor combined with a Scriptural metaphor to immediately set me free from a longstanding bondage in my life. So I know how powerful the metaphors in the Word of God are. And I found that contemplating the painting I had made to illustrate the metaphor of the helmet of Salvation helped me grapple with the spiritual issues involved for me and to overcome the fears I had of entering this kind of contest.