Shadows

This weekend was a lovely weekend to be outside enjoying nature. My husband and I did just that, enjoying a walk around a local lake. Of course I walked camera in hand and as I enjoyed the quiet and the views, my attention was caught by shadows.

Look for them in a few of my photos .....

As I observed the shadows I captured in my photos, I thought about the fact that if I taken my photos an hour or two later or earlier in the day my images would have been different. On a cloudy day, they could disappear all together. Capturing the shadow of something is a fleeting thing, it is true only at the moment you are observing it.

Imagine that you could not see the 'thing' casting the shadow. That all you knew about 'this thing' was observable only in its shadow. How ever changing would be your mental grasp of what it really was. Just when you thought you had it figured out, the shadow would move and with it's moving crumble your understanding of the object the shadow reflected.

As I walked along the lovely forested path surrounding the lake... observing the dancing shadows I thought of this verse...

Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

"NO shadow of turning!"

Did you ever stop to consider that since God is invisible all we can see of Him are the shadows He casts?

He cast His shadow in His creation and in the God/Man Jesus and in His Word.

And He says ... "The shadow that I cast does not move or turn ... because 'I change not' !!"

What does that mean to us ?

It means that God does not cast Himself one way in the morning and another way at noon.

It means that what He said thousands years ago is the same as what He says today.

It means that there is NOTHING that can affect His shadow... it is as solid as the One who casts the shadow.

It cannot be affected by time, by fashion, by custom, by man's opinion, by new information, by popular demand, by the enemy's influence, nor by earth shattering disasters or circumstance ! There is no power great enough to change by the slightest degree of turning the shadow God casts of who He is !

I found this very neat verse in Job 23:13 "But He is unique, and who can make Him change? And whatever His soul desires that He does!"

Unique... One of a kind is our God ! the One and Only !! There is no one like Him!!

Whatever His soul desires ?? And what does His soul desire ?? I once did a search of scripture seeking out the passages that declared the desire of God's heart. A study I would recommend!!

And if we know it is God's desire to give us what we have need of, with what confidence can we ask .... if God offered it once, He still means it today!

My favorite 'shadow' of 'God's delight' .... is that God says He desires us to KNOW HIM !

Jer 9:24 But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD.

Really? I think of the crowds that waited for hours for a glimpse of future King William and Kate... and those who got to 'touch' them or speak a word or two were thrilled to death !! How much greater is the King of all Kings -- and He desires to KNOW US ?? !! WOW !

Alongside the study of seeking out what delights God, I recommend you also seek out the things God hates.... If He hated them once, He still hates them! The shadow has not turned !

In knowing someone, not only do I want to know what they LOVE, I also want to know what they HATE.

I am someone who loves things to stay the same - (except for the things I don't like, of course..smile) But I love the things I love not to change.

I loved my last pair of glasses, they were so comfortable and fit my eyes perfectly. At my last optometrist visit my doctor prescribed new lenses and looking at my glasses very kindly said... "I'm not sure how much longer these are going to last!"

"Oh ??" I responded ... "I haven't had them very long!"

She looked at her records and said.. "Hmm .. its been 6 years !!"

I was surprised, but she was right .. a few weeks after my visit my glasses broke. I would rather they have just lasted forever.

Aren't you happy to know our God never gets 'old', never 'breaks' ? That He is Forever ? and unchanging in who He is ? We can TRUST His shadows - when nothing else in our world stays the same for long!

The Old Covenant God says ... Mal 3:6 "For I am the LORD, I do not change."

The New Covenant God says... nothing has changed.... Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

There is a warning in Prov. 24:21 It says.. My son, fear the LORD and the king; Do not associate with those given to change;

Why does God warn us about those 'given to change' --- because if someone changes easily we can't trust them. We don't know if what they say today will hold for tomorrow. Their promises have an expiry date attached.

But not God's ... His promises NEVER change! His word is forever established.

I am so thankful that in a world trembling in the face of change and coming darkness I know that My Redeemer lives and His shadow is without turning ! I can TRUST His Shadow completely!