I fear the shadows no more

Open the eyes of their hearts, and let the light of Your truth flood in. Shine Your light on the hope You are calling them to embrace. Reveal to them the glorious riches You are preparing as their inheritance. (Ephesians 1:18 VOICE)

Open eyes are the product of God's action in our lives. In spite of all our searching, trying to uncover the "unknown", we cannot see God unless he gives us the vision by which we behold him. True "spiritual sight" is not like natural sight - it is received and interpreted deep in the heart of man. The one thing which remains consistent with our natural sight is the need for light. Sight is really the receiving of all manner of light, complete with every hue of color that light carries. In a similar way, the light God gives into our hearts helps us see him in the fullness of his splendor - full of grace and truth, awesomely holy and fully righteous, good and just.

The hope we seek is not found in darkness - by groping around with the "best" sight we can muster on our own. It is found when the spotlight of his grace begins to focus on the emptiness of our lives without him. There is nothing more revealing than a spotlight. It zeros in on the object in the path of the light and every iota of what is in the path of that light becomes evident. God's grace has a way of making what once was so unclear and kind of nothing more than shadows to appear as they truly are. When we want the shadows revealed, we have but to pray for God's spotlight of grace to reveal them to us!

Have you ever heard a friend say, "I just cannot figure out why..."? I know I have uttered these words on occasion and the truth is that in my own natural reasoning I am not able to see what I am trying to see - the shadows obscure clear sight. Shadows have a way of presenting things to us in a way that is totally different than the way the object really appears. I have a back-up camera on my vehicle and yesterday I observed how different my vehicle looks in "shadow" form as I was backing up. It was just a couple hours after sunrise, but even then the shadow was taking form. The shadow didn't even resemble the vehicle though. It is that way in our lives, as well. The things we see as shadows, present but obscured from clear vision, are not "true" to actual size, integrity, or intensity.

We often lose hope because we see only the shadows. God wants us to clearly see the hope we have when grace is allowed to reveal the true size of our issues. The things which loom as great forces determined to be "against" us in this life are probably not as intense as we might think. Natural sight has a limitation - it cannot see the lack of integrity these things actually have in the light of God's magnifying light! We cannot fully see until we seek more light. We cannot fully understand until God brings truth to light by his grace in our lives. We might just fear the shadows a little less if we prayed for light to reveal their true size! Just sayin!

Shadows of Praise

Walt Whitman said, "Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you."  There is more truth to those words than Walt may have known.  When we face the Son, the shadows of doubt, fear, and plaguing memories can finally fall behind us, but not until we make that full transition to beholding his light.  In the shadows of doubt we find this building fear and mistrust.  In the shadows of fear we linger too long in places we feel we cannot escape unharmed.  In the shadows of plaguing memories we find ourselves holding to what has proven to do little more than disappoint.  Shadows are not our dwelling place - they are the result of the Son being behind us, right there for us to move toward when we are finally ready to flee those shadows!

The Eternal is my shepherd, He cares for me always.   He provides me rest in rich, green fields beside streams of refreshing water. He soothes my fears; He makes me whole again,
steering me off worn, hard paths to roads where truth and righteousness echo His name. Even in the unending shadows of death’s darkness, I am not overcome by fear. Because You are with me in those dark moments, near with Your protection and guidance, I am comforted.  (Psalm 23:1-4 VOICE)

Many are familiar with the words of the 23rd Psalm, not so much because they memorized it, but because it is one of the oft recited Psalms in scripture.  The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want....Yea I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. David penned these words, but few know there is a real Valley of Death in the region in which he shepherded his sheep as a young lad.  It is a very narrow and steep canyon you can navigate through, but it is frequently dark, shadows abounding simply because light can only reach it around high noon.  It was a passageway between one section of land and another near Jericho.  Not only was it dark, but it was long.  There are oft times when we pass through what seems to lead nowhere and which presents itself as that which will know no end.  In those times, we can do nothing more than to trust and obey.

As we look at David's words, we see his first assurance in dark times is to remind himself of God's care. The shepherd never left the sheep, didn't take his gaze from their masses, and always listened carefully for their bleating.  He knew the cry of the one stranded because it wandered too far from the flock as much as he knew the cry of one in danger of being overtaken by some predator in the night hours.  As he likens his careful concern for his flocks to God's careful watchfulness over those who love and serve him, he knows the love and care of God go much deeper, is even more enduring, and is without compromise.

Dark places come to us in life - it is part of life itself.  We must pass through some things which seem to wind their way around, casting shadows innumerable and bringing uncertainties at each bend in the path.  Yet, in the midst of this "valley" which casts such deep and dark shadows, light is always assured when we look not at the walls, but at the glimmer of light just beyond their deep shadows.  Too many times, these passageways become all too much worn and hard paths - because we have traveled them way too many times.  In those places frequented way too often and no longer welcomed by us, God enters in and begins to guide us from those all too familiar paths into places of refreshing and peace.

Those same walls that cast unending shadows of doubt, fear, and plaguing memories can become the very walls which echo the praises of hearts expectant of God's deliverance! Walls of a dark and deep canyon don't need to confine us, but can amplify the greatness of what God is doing within us!  We don't have to cry loudly because those walls begin to gently magnify even the weakest of whimpers and crescendo the loudest of words spoken in honest prayer to him!  The walls no longer cast shadows, but magnificently exalt the one who is guiding us through that dark valley.  Just sayin! 

Shadows beware!

Have you ever stood long enough to really look at your shadow, or perhaps the shadow cast by your car?  I am a ponderer, so I have!  I stop for periods of time and consider things - sometimes stuff others might just not stop long enough, or consider important enough, to think on.  So, last week, I began to "ponder" shadows.  What you get when I "ponder" is the results of my "thinking things through"!

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  (Psalm 23:4 NKJV)

Psalm 23 is one of the most "popular" psalms in the Bible because it is so frequently recited at the graveside.  As a means of some comfort, the loved ones are reminded God walks with their loved ones - and them - even in the valley of the SHADOW of death.  Now, I don't know if you have ever experienced any death in your life, but as a nurse, I have seen more than my share.  I don't ever recall a literal "shadow", but I certainly see the "results" of a shadow in these times!  As you read on, you will connect the dots here.  

Shadows have some unique qualities which might just help us gain perspective on them:

* Shadows have a way of appearing, not in the absence of light, but it is because of the light!  No light - no shadow.  The dawning and brilliance of light brings the evidence of the shadows.  Interestingly, taken to the spiritual side of this equation, you will begin to see no shadow exists in your life apart from the light of Christ exposing it!

* Shadows have a way of reflecting something which is really out of perspective.  Consider your shadow at noon.  Because the light of the sun is right overhead, your shadow is very small - kind of like a really squatty version of you!  At 4 p.m., your shadow may be very long, skinny and taller than reality!  Either way, the "perspective" is a skewed image of the real.  You really are not squatty and small - nor are you an elongated version capable of making headlines in the world record book!  In other words, shadows do not reflect reality.

Now, since we understand shadows are based on the perspective we might have related to the "light" in our lives, what our psalmist might just be reminding us is to focus on the one who gives the light, not on the shadow cast which does not reflect the reality of the circumstance.  Shadows reflect something real, but just out of perspective.  My Camry does not look like a Camry when I see it as a shadow, but when I drive by a storefront of brilliantly polished glass, I see a "reflection" of the reality.  A mirror does a much better job reflecting image, but it is still not three-dimensional.  A shadow only shows us one dimension, as well.

To focus on the image we see in the mirror, or the one cast in the shadow, leads us to interpret things from the limited perspective we have.  We see the "hugeness" of the shadow and assume the "thing" we are viewing is greater than we can overcome.  Our psalmist reminds us, we walk THROUGH the valley of the shadow - it doesn't consume us, it doesn't hold us captive - we get through it when we focus on the light which illuminates the shadow, not the other way around.  We need the "three-dimensional" viewpoint - only God holds this vantage!  As we begin to see what "casts" the shadow, instead of the shadow, we gain perspective.  Look in the opposite direction of the shadow and you will see the light!

You knew I'd have to look up shadow in the dictionary, didn't you?  Here's the very first definition I found:  a dark figure or image cast on the ground or some surface by a body intercepting light.  Get it?  When we actually see something intercepted by light we are seeing the light "stopped" by something in its way.  The shadow is the result of the light coming into contact with the obstacle.  If all we see is the shadow, we will never really understand the object being reflected by the light.  We see some "image", but it may appear larger than life!  I wonder just how many things we "view" from the perspective of "larger than life" simply because we are considering the "shadow" and not the object itself?  Just sayin!