Under The Shadow...

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One of my favorite songs carries a line so gripping that it has lingered with me:
“You’ve got this way of taking away those shadows that hung around.”

As I sat with those words, it dawned on me that to be human is, in many ways, to live under shadows.

From the moment we are conceived in the mind of God, carried in our parents as egg and sperm, formed in the womb, born into family, and shaped within community, we are shaped by countless shadows. Some nurture us. Others wound us. And even those shadows we don't recognize or fully understand, we feel their weight all the same.

Shadow, as a symbol, is deeply significant.

First, shadow speaks of protection and refuge. Think of walking under the scorching sun, your body yearns for shade, the shadow of a tree or a building to offer relief. Or remember being a child, frightened by a barking dog, instinctively hiding in the shadow of your mother. Shadow was safety.

Second, shadow signifies presence and closeness. You cannot stand under the shadow of something distant. Shadow implies nearness. Proximity is essential.

And finally, shadow speaks of concealment and cover. Think of the first time you hid behind someone or something stronger than you. You were hidden within another’s shadow.

So where am I going with this?

The Shadow of the Almighty.

As we brace ourselves for a new year, there is no better place from which to live than under the shadow of the Almighty. Packed into the coming days are moments both joyful and painful, defining and forgettable, exhilarating and exhausting. Yet through the ebb and flow of life, one assurance remains: under His shadow, there is protection, refuge, and covering from the heat of life.

Our responsibility, then, is to cultivate an abiding nearness. A closeness that allows us to dwell under His shadow. For it is only in nearness that His shadow can be enjoyed.

So come out from under the ungodly shadows you have been living beneath. Step away from coverings that can neither protect nor sustain you. Fully immerse yourself in the shadow of the Almighty.

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”
Psalm 91:1

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