Last night, just before heading off to bed, Genni the wonder dog and I
went for a quick stroll along the lake. Across the lake I saw a vehicle and
its headlights cut a low swath of light ahead of me. Nothing at all unusual
in that, there are often vehicles around day and night.
Suddenly, I was taken aback as three huge shadows swooped in on me. It
took a moment to figure out what had happened. A flock of geese had just
landed and three of them had flown through the headlight glare casting
shadows that were ten feet or more long. I had been lost in thought and
hadn't even heard the geese coming.
The shadow of something can change with relation to its position to the
light source. Shadows can be huge, or non-existent. No matter how large it
is, a shadow by itself doesn't have any power. The shadow of a dog can't bite
you and the shadow of a tree makes lousy firewood. All a shadow does is show
that there is light present and something else as well.
Shadows can distort. My ten-foot long geese are proof of that. Most
people have taken their hands and held them in front of a light source and
made shadow puppets that looked like butterflies, dogs or a variety of other
creatures. We know the "puppets" are really hands but the shadow looks like
something else.
In this world many thing are hidden in the shadows. People do things in
the shadows that they don't want others to see and often it seems to work.
Yet God is the light source, so He sees what is done in the shadow.
His eyes are on the ways of men; he sees their
every step. There is no dark place, no deep shadow, where evildoers can
hide. Job 31:21-22 NIV
Nothing is hidden from His eye. We never "get away" with it even if we
think we've covered our tracks perfectly.
There is another side to shadows, they aren't just a place where people
try to hide. The shadow is sometimes a place of comfort, not because of the
power of the shadow, but because of the one who casts it.
Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the
shadow of your wings from the wicked who assail me, from my mortal enemies
who surround me. Psalm 17:8-9 NIV
Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of
your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. Psalm
63:7-8 NIV
There is no need to fear the shadows. The fact that there are shadows
means that the Light is near. It's futile to hide your evil in the shadows
because that same Light is near.
Until next time, rejoice in the shadow of the Lord. He is there casting
His shadow over you no matter what you face.
Be blessed.
Hallelu Yah (Praise God)!
Kevin
