The Shadow Game
For the second day in a row I have awakened with no headache and no sinus pain! I was cautious about getting my hopes up yesterday because I kept waiting for the big let-down. But it never came. I felt great all day and then woke up this morning still feeling fine. What a huge relief!
Have you ever been so sure that you were "over" something or that you had conquered something, you started telling people all about it, only to discover later that maybe you were not quite as over it as you thought? I'm really hoping that's not the case here, but two days of no pain - I'm ready to celebrate. I believe that there has been a spiritual element beyond basic illness to this latest sinus ordeal. I'm not sure what all that involves, but this is something that I have thought I had "defeated" many different times throughout my life, yet it keeps resurfacing. That seems pretty evil to me.
I have often commented about the picture of "two worlds" painted in the 91st Psalm. David talks about dwelling in "the secret place" and "the shadow of the Almighty," but he also talks about the perilous pestilence and the snare of the fowler and the arrow that flies by day. So there is this "place" of protection and safety in the middle of the turmoil of regular life. There is sickness in this world. Serious, harmful things happen to people all over this earth. God seems to be offering shelter, under His wing that keeps us from all of that. I'm not certain as to how this works, but I know He says:
A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you... v. 7
I remember a little game I used to play with my dad. Whenever he was walking and casting a shadow I would try to keep my feet in his shadow with every step. It wasn't easy for my little legs to stay in step with his long strides. I'd have to take long leaps and jog to keep up. Now, without me ever having shared it with them, my kids play that game with me. Recently I chided Luke for pulling away from my arm as we held hands and he tried to lurch ahead of me. "What are you doing?" I scolded. "I was trying to step on your head-shadow!"
This is my picture of abiding under the shadow of the Almighty. I don't imagine cowering behind Him, taking cover from the evils of life. I imagine taking long leaps and jogging to stay in step with the perpetual motion of God's Spirit. The day Luke discovered "the shadow game," I told him, "Well if you're going to step in my shadow, you have to keep hold of my hand. I don't want you running ahead of me in the parking lot."
Hmm... I'm finding a lot to ponder in those two sentences.
Scott Bane
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There is so much wisdom we can gain from experiences with our kids. It brings into clarity the fact that God is our Father, our Daddy. I know I've 'run ahead of Him' a time or two, and sometimes He's jerked me out of the way of an oncoming car, and sometimes He was trying, but I rejected His help and payed the price for it. If you are a parent (or a teacher of kids) you know you can't "make" a kid do anything. I had to sit through play practice today with a 1st grade scowling at me (we call that 'angry eyebrows') through all the songs because I asked him to sing. He didn't want to, so he didn't open his mouth.
Since we have a will, God can't force us to do what He wants. He can tell us, and we would be wise to listen.
Thanks for blogging again! I really need it. You say things in a way I understand.
This was such a great post!! The shadow game is right on, I can remember playing that too! I so see the significance here, but I love the fact that Luke wanted to be in your head, he wanted to see what you see and sometimes this makes us run ahead! I learn a ton from my children about life!
This post has really got the wheels spinning in my head Pastor Scott and I think on a practical level you may have just bore witness to what I've been learning. Over the past couple of years I've personally had a small handful of prayers and desires shattered. My hope in these very things has been cutoff, killed, destroyed. I'll swallow my pride and give an example for your readers, I've been losing my hair for 9 years and it isn't getting any thicker. Some may call it vanity but it's important to me! At the same time, I have watched as other people have, for lack of a better word, boasted about what God was doing in their own lives. Being healed of a sickness or finding the love of their life or the job of their dreams, only to find out three months later, the engagement has been called off or the sickness has returned full force and they just got fired too. We're like the boy who cries wolf. What does this do to the Body? I'll tell you what it does to me - it weakens my own faith! Because of this I started meditating on what I was seeing and feeling and I feel like the Lord has been working something into me that Mary understood at a very young age. What did Mary do after Gabriel told her she would bear a child? She HID EVERYTHING in her heart! Could this be the secret place talked about in Psalm 91? Certainly we should give God glory and honor for answered prayers and what He is doing in our lives but maybe this is what the Spirit is implying when He shares about getting ahead of Him. Is He the one who told us to present ourselves to the High Priest or are we letting everyone know so we can somehow validate our own faith? Are we playing the "positive confession" game? Some of these questions I am just throwing out there. I don't fully know myself just yet but what I do know from personal experience is that it usually takes a lot more self-control and faith to remain quiet. God will receive glory when the time is right.
hmmm... that adds to what we've been talking about as well, there's a time and season for everything. Interesting.
Thanks to all for the comments.
Lisa: I thought your "angry eyebrows" analogy was perfect. I've caught myself doing the same thing - resisting what I already know to be right, just so that I can grasp at some measure of control.
Chrissy: I love your take on Luke trying to step on my head shadow. That really adds a layer to that parable that I had not thought of. Thank you!
Mike: I think you are spot on when you describe Mary keeping "all these things" in her heart. That is really perfect. Come to think of it, we don't ever get record of Mary "testifying."
Hi Pastor Scott--
I was just praying and the Lord put you and your family on my heart in a big way (around 1:50 a.m. Central Time.) I just wanted to let you know that you are in my prayers and I trust that God will meet every need according to HIS riches in glory, by Christ Jesus.
Two songs are in my head---the one that has the refrain "His love endures forever" and the one with the line "Your unfailing love, over me again"
This might sound odd, but I feel like I'm supposed to say that His love is like a supernatural comforter---(meaning comforter like a blanket) one that you can wrap yourself in and he will encompass you and keep you protected from the "cold" ---meaning anything found outside of that comforter. That as you become warmer, you may shiver and feel the cold as the warmth takes over, but soon that "cold" will be only a memory and His unfailing love will come over you, and you will remember how cold you felt, but that will only serve to remind you of how He has shown His faithfulness.
He has sent us "The Comforter"
God Bless You!
Kim