DAY 29

SHADOW GAMES

LAUREN GRACA, KIDS PASTOR, THE WOODS CHURCH

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers He will shelter you with his wings. —Psalm 91:1-4

Running errands can be a grueling process, especially when you’re a child. I can still remember running errands with my mom. I did not know what was on the list for the day, but I knew two things: I had to come along, and it could take all day! I remember feeling tired, bored, and just wanting to go home to play. “How many more stores?” would play on repeat.

So what would my sisters and I do to keep ourselves entertained? We’d play a shadow game. Tablets and cell phones were not a common distraction for me as a child, so my sisters and I would play a game where we always had to be stepping on someone’s shadow. Similar to the game “Floor is Lava”, only this time the shadows would move. Shadow games kept life a little more exciting. For instance, we didn’t know why we were going into Kmart, but we knew we had to stay close to mom if we wanted to successfully walk on her shadow. In this game, wherever the shadow moved, so did I.

Even though I’m older now, I still have to run errands (funny how that works) and now it’s my kids who are playing shadow games. Yet I still find myself playing a shadow game. Believe it or not, all of us are.

We are all following something or someone. Maybe it’s a career, maybe it’s social influencers, maybe it’s culture. It could be that we are following God and His plans for us, but we could also be following the lures and temptations of the enemy. His goal, after all, is to steal our attention away from our Heavenly Father (John 10:10).

Before I continue further, I want you to ask yourself, “Whose shadow am I following? Who am I chasing after? Is it the Lord or someone (or something) else?”

In Psalm 91, the writer mentions the word “shadow” several times. It describes dwelling near to God and following Him wherever He goes. In order to be in someone’s shadow, you have to be in close proximity behind them, not in front of them. I believe that we often live thinking it’s the other way around: We lead, God follows us. We run our errands and do our things, knowing that God is right there behind us when we need Him.

But the writer of Psalm 91 describes the opposite: God leads and we follow. And in order to receive His shelter and protection, in order to know Him well and dwell in His Presence, we need to be close to Him. This takes a decision to surrender, to trust, and to have faith in God and His plans for us.

Consider the shadow game: When you are trying to remain in someone’s shadow, where do you look? You can’t look up, you have to look down. You have to look at where you are placing your feet.

You trust the person or the thing you are following. You don’t get to see the whole picture - where you are, what you are walking towards. All you are focused on is staying as close as you can so that you remain in the shadow. This takes trust, faith, and care. I want to ask you again, who are you putting your trust and faith in?

Often when we pray, we ask God for His Presence to be near to us. “God, may we sense Your Presence; may we see evidence of You throughout our day.” I cannot count the amount of times I have prayed those words. And while I genuinely mean every single word I pray, I wonder if God asks the same of me? To flip it around and consider God’s perspective, I wonder if this is what He thinks:

“Lauren, I want to sense your presence. I want to see evidence of you following me, abiding in me, drawing closer to me every single day.” Often I think we ask God for His Presence without giving Him ours.

Now that we have some context and an image to associate with shadows, let’s read the passage in Psalm 91 again:

Those who live in the shelter of the
Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
He is my God, and I trust him.

What a precious gift we receive in return when we place ourselves in the shadow of the Almighty God. With all this world is throwing at us, with all the schemes of the enemy trying to attack us, God provides protection. This doesn’t mean hard days won’t come upon us, this doesn’t mean you’ll never feel heartache or pain. Jesus followed God’s will and He still felt all those things. But when the hard times come, whose shadow would you rather be in, God’s or someone else’s? I guarantee no one else and nothing else is as strong as the Lord. Even the writer describes God as “Most High” and “Almighty”.

But in order to receive, we first have to trust. The author of this chapter begins with three critical words, “Those who live...”. Do not read quickly past those words to get to the promise. Are you part of “those who...”? Do you choose to live your life in the shelter of the Most High? Live, dwell, abide: these are critical words. I heard someone once say, “God doesn’t ask for much but He wants everything.” Do you give Him all your presence? Do you live abiding in Him (John 15:5)? Or do you only come to Him in prayer when you desperately need something? Do you thank Him sometimes, only when there’s been a major victory? Scripture says “Pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17); do you converse with God daily?

One final question: Has your life been a shadow game with the Most High? If the answer is no, He’s inviting you to start today!

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, you are the Most High God. You are the Almighty. Today we give you not only our attention, but our presence, our lives. Not for what we get for it, but because of who You are. We are sorry for walking away or playing shadow games with someone else. You are who we want to follow. You are the one who will lead us. You are the one who has good plans and purposes for us. You are the one who will protect us. May we trust that You will guide us. May we abide in You and bear fruit so that others will see Your Spirit among them. May our focus and attention be on You, always. Thank you for inviting us to follow your shadow, may we dwell there, in joy! Amen.