As I sit here on the couch, blizzard raging outside, the light of a nearby candle draws me into its trance. The objects surrounding it bathe in its light and my gaze is drawn to the shadows dancing on the wall behind it. I notice the shadows are much larger than the objects themselves and a revelation hits me.
Shadows.
As small children, some of us feared shadows. Big, dark, scary ones moving in our windows or on our walls at night. That was until grade school when we were taught the science behind them. An object blocking a light source will cause a shadow to form, the size of the shadow dependent upon the angle at which the light hits and its distance from the object. We all know that when the sun is setting towards the horizon, shadows lengthen and grow, but when directly overhead they’re almost non-existent.
My mind wanders to ‘what if…’ What if the problems in our life are merely shadows? Shadows caused by issues attempting to block our access to the light of God and creating pictures in our mind that are much larger than what exists in reality. And what if the size of the shadows were dependent upon the angle and distance at which we position God in our lives?
How many of us have faced problems, fearing the worst, creating images in our minds of what could be, only to find out, when facing it head on that it really wasn’t that bad after all. I’m sure we’ve all experienced it. I’m not saying that’s the case every time and yes, there are issues and problems that ARE that bad, but we need to admit that a lot of the time our minds are really good at picturing ‘worst-case-scenarios’.
~ “The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.” John 1:4-5 GNT ~
God is an eternal source of life and light. We have that light within us. Darkness cannot exist in the presence of light. Darkness is simply the absence of light and in the light of God’s Word and his presence, our problems can be seen for what they truly are, rather than the big, ugly shadows they create in our minds.
So do our problems just disappear when God comes in? Not at all! We will always have issues in life. How much they affect us, however, will depend on our focus and our trust in God to walk us through them. Are we focusing on the shadows or are we focusing on Him?
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