SCARED BY A SHADOW?

Shadows - are interesting.  In very bright light they can be dark and seem almost solid.  When one of our daughters saw her shadow for the first time in bright sunlight at age two it scared her because she tried to get away from it and could not.  Later on as our girls got a lot older we would play shadow tag where you tried to step on someone’s shadow without allowing your own shadow be stepped on.  (For some reason I always lost - perhaps the sheer size of my shadow put me at a disadvantage.)  But one lesson I learned from shadow tag was that the closer you were to the person the easier it was to step on their shadow.  Let’s look at these verses together.

Psalm 91:1 (NLT) Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. [2] This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.

In the Old Testament the idea of God’s presence was described as being near to God in His Temple.  To be close to God required a physical nearness, in this case close enough for God to become their shelter.  The imagery gets even more vivid with the next phrase.  To “rest in the SHADOW of the Almighty.”  I know God does not cast a shadow - but if a person wanted to be in the shadow of Jesus they would have to be very close to Him.  The idea is the same.  If we want to REST in God we must be CLOSE to Him.  Close enough so that His shadow falls on us.  Wiersbe tells us that: “The safest place in the world is a shadow, if it is the shadow of the Almighty.”  And Spurgeon reminds us that: “Great nearness is in view - we must walk very close to a companion if we would have his shadow fall on us.”  If we are to pursue nearness to God, closeness with Him, and intimate relationship with our Lord it will require BEING CLOSE to Him.  How do we do that?  The primary way is to spend time with Him reading and meditating on the Bible.  And talking to Him about the things that we see in His Word and the things that are going on in our lives.  The end result of continually resting in God’s Presence -  in His shadow is seen in verse two.  Those who draw close to God can declare about the Lord that - He ALONE is MY refuge, He is MY place of safety, HE is MY God and I Trust Him.   

PRAYER: Lord Jesus help me to draw close to YOU and help me to rest in that closeness.  Help me to Remember as I rest in You that YOU are MY refuge and MY place of Safety.  Thank You Lord Jesus that You are MY God and that I can TRUST you Always.