Tag: Janet Lenz

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Only in the Dark

“Tell me what charges You have against me…”

Job 10:2

Hard times have a way of getting our attention, and this old world is going through a very dark time.  It becomes tempting to want to blame our hard times on somebody…something….often, questioning God Himself.

A good man named Job was going through an extremely dark time.  He had experienced sudden, tragic losses on many levels.  Life as he had known it had taken a serious nose-dive.  It was too much for him to understand.  With the input of his “friends” he had concluded that he was being punished somehow…punished by God.  In desperation, Job asked God directly what he had done to deserve the devastating losses in his life.  What had he done that was so wrong??  God was silent.  However, his “friends” had much to say, and it wasn’t good.

But being in the dark isn’t all bad.   It does have its moments: 

  • Fireflies (Do they only come out at night? Or do they only become visible in the dark?)
  • Stars (they are always up there . . . we just don’t see them unless it’s dark!)
  • Campfires still burn with warm glow and sparks in daylight. We just don’t see it with all its mezmerizing colors, brightness and sparkle unless it’s dark.

Much of the world has had life as we’ve known it dramatically altered.  It feels like a dark time.  In the midst of a pandemic that has affected the whole world, hearts and minds around the globe have been shaken, forced to re-evaluate our lives and consider what really matters.

Life on this planet is not kind.  But God is.  In His Goodness, He will use the bad things…tough things of life….and turn them around for Good when we hold onto Him.   He did that with old Job.  He has done that in my life, too.  In God’s Hands, the bad times…the dark times, will be used for good.   He has done that in the past, and I know He will do it in the future.

When I am in the desert…in the refugee camps…the nights become the backdrop for the most incredible light shows I’ve ever seen in my life.  Though the situation is wrought with tragedy, loss, heartache, and long-standing injustice, every night the vast black sky becomes the backdrop for a celestial “light show” like none other.  It takes effort to fall asleep, because the moving display lasts all night.  My heart can hear Him reminding me that He is Present, He sees me, and nothing going on in my life is beyond Him.  I don’t have to understand it. . . if I just keep looking up,  He is there.  He’s “got this.”

So in the dark nights, watch for the fireflies.  Look at the stars.  Take in the moon’s light.  Visibly shining only while you are in the darkness, these are God’s everyday,  global reminders that He is there.  He repeats that message to the whole earth in 24 hours, every day.  Those glimpses of His Light…perhaps in very unexpected moments, are to remind you that He is there.  He is the Light.

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JUMP IN!

Part 2

John 21:15-19

‘After they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than the other disciples do?”

Peter answered Him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus told him, “Feed my lambs.”

Jesus asked him again, a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?”

Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus told him,  “Take care of my sheep.”

Jesus asked him a third time,  “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

Peter felt sad because Jesus had asked him a third time, “Do you love me?”   So Peter said to him, “Lord, you know everything.  You know that I love you.”

Jesus told him, “Feed my sheep.”

Was Peter remembering (was it only a week ago?), sitting at that warming fire outside the place where Jesus was being questioned…beaten…tortured… and his three denials of even knowing Him?  Three questions.  Three lies.  And now, three questions.  And three heartfelt true responses.  A second chance. . .

Then Jesus described some of Peter’s future, including Peter’s death.

(:19) “ After saying this, Jesus told Peter, ‘Follow me!’”

There was no condemnation of Peter’s  failures toward Jesus.  Forgiveness was extended, and another chance was being offered.  Jesus gave Peter an honest glimpse into the future as a true follower of His.  Peter had seen the reality of what it cost Jesus to be fully surrendered to God, and what it would cost him.

The fisherman was going to become a shepherd.  A fisherman does not have to give up his life for the fish.  He just focuses on catching them.  And eating them.  And counting them.  But a shepherd . . . that’s 24/7 and requires  tremendous, thankless dedication, watchfulness, and care.   Within that care comes laying down one’s own life.

Jesus had told Peter, “Don’t be afraid.  From now on you will catch people instead of fish.”

The fisherman did become a shepherd.  His powerful message carried throughout nations then, and continues now.  It did cost Peter everything…even death on a cross.

And this “Ewe” is so very grateful.

 

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 JUMP IN!

Note:  The following event took place soon after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, with flashbacks of three years earlier.

 PART 1

“Later, by the Sea of Tiberias, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples. 

This is what happened: 

Simon Peter, Thomas and Nathanael, Zebedee’s sons,

and two other disciples of Jesus were together.

Simon Peter said to the others,

‘I’m going fishing.’”

John 21:1-3

Like any good fisherman, when life gets tough, ya’ jump in the old fishing boat.   It had been an extraordinary, emotional week for Peter and his buddies.   Betrayal, crucifixion, fear, hiding, burial, earthquake, resurrection, forgiveness, . . . Peter had even lopped the ear off of a Roman Guard, which Jesus immediately re-attached.

He just needed to go fishing.

The Sea of Galilee borders many regions.  The shoreline that bordered the big, non-Jewish (Roman/Gentile side) city of Tiberias was called “Sea of Tiberias”, but is still the same body of water known as the Sea of Galilee.  Did Peter head to that Gentile shoreline because it was less associated with the region where he had spent so much time with Jesus?  Too many memories?  Was the Jewish side too likely to pose a run-in with people who would recognize him as being one of Jesus’ inner circle?  Jesus’ crucifixion was still fresh in people’s minds.

We can only imagine the emotional and mental trauma that Jesus’ closest circle of friends had just lived through.  Peter, especially.  He was a “feel-er”….many times letting his heart overrule his head.  Turning to what was most comfortable for him…where he felt most competent – fishing on his lake – made total sense.

So, Jesus met him there.

  • He was waiting with a campfire and cooking a fresh fish breakfast including bread on the side;
  • He had given Peter a great tip of where the fish were biting (netted 153!);
  • He invited the group of guys to share some of their fresh catch with His breakfast spread.

True to form, as soon as Peter realized Who was talking to them from the shoreline, he threw on his coat and jumped into the water, leaving the details of the overflowing boat and fresh fish to his friends.  His priority was getting to Jesus.

Was Peter remembering His first meeting with Jesus…was it only three years ago?! It had been a similar long night of fishing with not one fish to show for it.  There had been a huge crowd of people on the shoreline following this Man…a Teacher…and since Peter’s boat was empty, the Teacher got in, without even asking!  He just shlepped right in and told Peter to back the boat up a bit.  Then He started talking.  And the whole crowd was listening!   Peter had no choice but to listen…he was caught in his own boat.  And besides, everyone was looking at them.  Peter had ended up walking away from it all…the fishing, his boat, life as he’d known it.  Jesus had drawn Peter in, even telling him that He would make him a “fisher of men.”  Peter was “hooked.”   For life.

When the rest of the guys had finished securing the boat and the 153 fish (only a true fisherman would count them out, and writeabout it),  they joined Jesus and Peter at the campfire.  Jesus took the bread . . . and gave it to them.  Then the fish.   Was Peter remembering the last meal they had shared…in that borrowed upper room?  Jesus had taken the Seder bread, broke it, and gave it to them to eat.  But that night He had added something strange:  “This is MY Body, broken for you.  Take.  Eat.  …Remember.”

Only a few hours later Jesus had been “tried”….tortured…. while Peter stayed in the shadows.  He had denied being “with” Jesus three times, saying “No”…. he didn’t know Him.  As the words of his third denial still hung in the night air, the sound of a rooster’s crow broke into the darkness, just as Jesus had said.  

In Jesus’ simple act of serving breakfast to His fishing friends, He was communicating directly to their hearts:

  • “Peace” was between His Heart and theirs;
  • “Forgiveness” for any of the hurtful failures weighing on them for all Jesus had gone through
  • Restored relationship between them.

As far as we know from the records of this story, they had not even verbalized their regrets.   But Jesus was looking at their hearts.

***********************************************

I remember the sick feeling in my stomach as a little girl, any time I had done something wrong.  I wanted to hide.  I wanted to fix it.  I let shame be a cloud hovering over me, not knowing how to get out from under it.   But through the years, I have come to experience the continued kindness of God’s forgiveness, as lived out in all the stories of Jesus.  I don’t head to a fishing boat….but it might be to my garden, or a drive, or shopping, art, or TV.   And though it should come as no surprise, Jesus shows up, acting as if nothing has happened. His undeserved kindness, His goodness, interrupts and draws me back into His Presence.  

May my heart “jump in” to Jesus’ Presence in my life, no matter why I have jumped into my “boat.”  

TO BE CONTINUED….

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Heartburn

“Did not our hearts burn within us?”

Luke 24:32

Have you ever had an experience that unexpectedly ignited something deep inside of you?  In your core?  Seemingly in your very heart?   An experience like that is difficult to put to words.  It is beyond a logical explanation.  You just KNOW that it is very real.  It has by-passed your logic, even your imagination, but you know that  Truth has come to the core of your being.  It is God-style heart-burn.

We catch such a moment taking place between some men walking together down a road heading away from Jerusalem.  They had been through their worst nightmare and needed to get away.  They’d been close followers of Jesus, Who now lay in a tomb.  Dead.  As were the beliefs and dreams they had shared together with Him for the past three years.  It was over.

Then, in the midst of their conversation replaying what they had gone through together, Jesus joined them on the road.  The friends did not recognize Him.  They were discussing how they had gotten word that very morning that Jesus was no longer in the tomb. Some of their friends were insisting that they had seen, even talked to Him….ALIVE.

Jesus joined the friends, walking…listening to their conversation.  He was even invited to share a meal with them.  Not until later, when this Stranger repeated something He had done with them the last time they had been together (the night before He died) that they began to realize Who was breaking the bread and serving them.  Then He was gone.   And they were left with “burning hearts.”  What their minds had failed to grasp, their hearts did.

I have come to believe that God’s Spirit often has to by-pass our human logic and go directly to our hearts when He draws us to Himself.  Often, His “drawing” does not make human sense.  Who He draws…how He draws…even “why” He draws is often notbased on human logic.  It might even defy logic at first, tho’ over time it can make perfect sense.

From my experience, God’s orchestration of His Calling my heart to the desert people who now reside deeply in my heart, made NO human sense.  I just knew that it was something He was putting in my heart….it certainly wasn’t of my own thinking.  Yet, I can now look back and see how my life, my story, my temperament, are clearly suited to the desert nation to which He has tied my heart.

He gave me “heart-burn” for them.    And I am deeply grateful.

 

 

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Gracious Uncertainty

“It does not yet appear what we shall be.”

1 John 3:2

As our whole world walks through an unprecedented experience . . . a global plague, we have been shaken.  It is as if God has pressed a “Pause Button” on life as it was.  Nations, cities, communities, and families have been forced to consider the present and the future, knowing that something has changed “life” as it has been.

We don’t know how the future will look.  We don’t know how life will look.  For people who have chosen to follow God, this is nothing new.  The Bible is filled with the stories of individuals, families, and nations who experienced Divine Disruptions to Life as they had known it.

John wrote out of his first-hand experiences as one of Jesus’ twelve closest followers.  He was an eye-witness to Jesus’ time on earth, and fully qualified to write of it.  He had seen it all, went through the extreme highs and lows of following Jesus on earth, and then carried his experiences through decades after Jesus returned to Heaven.

John’s life ended as a very old man on an island.  Not on a retirement vacation…but in forced exile.  He would have deeply understood “social distancing” and being in “quarantine,”  but not for his benefit nor the benefit of others, nor for a temporary period of time.  He would die there.

Yet, from that place of isolation, he wrote, “See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for He allows us to be called His children, and we really are!”  and  “This is the message we have heard from the beginning:  We should love one another.”  I John 3:1, 11   And much, much more.

May we use this Time to let go of our “normal,” and let God draw us close.  May we listen to His Words of Love to us and through us…as did John.

***********

When my world “blew up” a few years ago, I experienced major losses… the man I dearly loved was gone, the home we had shared, as well as the work we had birthed and raised together for 35 years.  I  have tasted a bit of what John may have faced (no imprisonment nor forced exile here!).  But the dramatic sense of “being alone” has brought up thoughts and emotions I had never experienced before. 

My setting includes a shoreline of water, and an extremely quiet living quarters.  I think that I can relate much more personally to John now, as years worth of stories, memories, and lessons have the space and time to come to my mind.  I have the quietness to “listen” more, contemplate more, study and write more.  Life has become much more simple and basic. 

“Pause Button-pushing” is often not invited nor wanted in our world.  But when God allows it – especially on a global level, it is extremely likely that His has “pushed it” out of Love, and out of His desire to have our full attention.   

May the people of His Heart, especially, not waste the opportunity He has given us to look into His Face,  His Eyes, and draw closer to His Heart.

 

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Adjusting the Focus

“Baruch, this is what the Lord says:

‘I will destroy this nation that I built.

I will uproot what I planted.

Are you seeking great things for yourself?

Don’t do it!

But don’t be discouraged.

I will bring great disaster upon all these people,

But I will protect you wherever you go.

I, the Lord, have spoken!”

Jeremiah 45:4-5

God has a looong history of orchestrating attitude adjustments to the inhabitants of this old Earth.  He especially seems to focus on the people who have chosen to follow Him through Life.   In this present moment, the whole world is dealing with a “plague” like most have never personally experienced.  Unexpected, life-altering, scary, and destructive.  Our own mortality is in our faces.

But within this global “Disruption” have come changes of attitudes, changes of perspective, and a lot more time to “be.”   It’s been beyond our human control to end it.  Most have experienced a realization that we cannot just “fix” this.

Earth has a long history of world-changing events…and often these have been part of an awakening to God Himself.

In the prophet Jeremiah’s time, his world was also experiencing a serious “shaking.”  There was fear, a sense of helplessness, hopelessness, …all that had been was changing.

God’s perspective is far different from our human perspective.  He does not focus on all the “stuff” of life on this planet.  He is focused on hearts…on values…on how we value Him and the place we give Him in our daily lives.

God spoke to a man named Baruch, whose world was on the brink of devastation.

Baruch had been writing down the things the old Prophet Jeremiah spoke…which was a lot!  He was not very happy about it, either…nor of the compensation for all his work.  (Prophets tend to be “loner’s” and financially living on the kindness of others. And they talk a lot, so we can imagine what his “secretary” lived with.)

The people had taken their world into their own hands, disregarding the God who had made them a nation and had cared for them as His Own.  Prophet Jeremiah likely had a LOT to say about all of that.

Baruch (which means “Blessed”, but AKA “The Secretary”) had God’s attention.  We are given a glimpse into God’s warning to him about one thing:  “Do not seek great things for yourself.”

We, as the people of God, are blessed…if for no other reason than His choosing us to be His Holy Nation…His Family.  The greatest risk to that relationship is turning our focus on “me…myself…and I.” 

In the desert refugee camps, a moment that is stamped on my mind was when I saw a scruffy little girl receive a gift from one of our group.  She quickly opened it and pulled out a doll.  Her shriek of  joy quickly turned into a dash out of the tent, shouting,  “Look what WE got!   Look what WE got!”  as she waved the doll over her head.  Her little friends came from all directions, joyfully gathered around the new doll.  There was no “I…my….mine” in the mix.  The gift was for all of them, in that little girl’s mind. 

The best place for us to be is focusing on God, rather than on ourselves.  The focus of “me” and “mine” can dissolve in a moment.  But keeping our focus centered on God is the safest place to be.

 

 

 

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Friend of the Bridegroom – Part 1

 “The Bride belongs to the Bridegroom.  The friend who attends the Bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the Bridegroom’s voice.”  John 3:28-30

[NOTE: John, one of the 12 disciples chosen by Jesus, described well the key people and roles involved in ancient weddings.  It also gives us an insight into the first “wedding”…in God’s Garden.]

God was the first Wedding Planner.   He created the Garden setting (Perfect!), the Groom (Adam…handsome “model man,” I’m sure, although he was missing a rib), and the Bride (Eve…an absolutely divine creation!)   

It was perfect!

At that moment in Time, God Himself stepped into the role of Friend of the Bridegroom.   In ancient times, this role was very important.  The Friend of the Bridegroom acted as the go-between for the Bridegroom and the Bride.  Plans, details, and any other important communications between the Bridegroom and the Bride were carried out through the Friend of the Bridegroom.  The Bridegroom and the Bride did not have any contact before the wedding.  All information was passed between them by the Friend of the Bridegroom.  He had weighty responsibilities to carry out between the Bridegroom and his Bride, and had to be completely trustworthy.   In that first love story, God conducted the wedding ceremony.

Fast forward in time… God chose a man named Moses to be His Friend.  God had chosen His Bride (the people of God), through whom He would bring the Messiah.  They had been in slavery for 400 years and had lost much as a result.  The generations who had known God were gone.  It was as if God had to press a “re-set” button to prepare His Bride, reminding her of who she was,  Whose she was,  Who God was,  and how to relate to Him as well as to each other.  Their centuries of slavery had changed them.  God had to lay new groundwork for this nation of slaves (His Bride) through whom He would create His Own Nation…a Family.

God chose His “Friend of the Bridegroom”….a man who was of God’s own People, yet had been raised and trained in the most powerful Pharoah’s own home.  His name was Moses.  His leadership and scholastic training was from the best.  Moses had been trained in leadership skills necessary to rule a mighty nation, the mightiest on earth at that time.  Yet Moses had also spent 40 years out in the middle of nowhere “leading” sheep.  It was his time to personally encounter God, and to learn to be a shepherd of “not too bright” sheep.  The drastically different skill sets of an Egyptian Prince and a desert shepherd would all come into play for the mission the Bridegroom (God) had for Moses to carry out for Him.

Once God had His chosen Bride’s full attention, having walked down the aisle of a parted sea,  the Bridegroom was ready to communicate with His Bride about how their life together would work.

Moses (Friend of the Bridegroom) went to meet with Bridegroom, God, on the mountain top, and began writing down what the Groom was laying out as the foundation of their new Family, a chosen nation.  In 400 years of slavery, they had lost much of who they were.

The Friend of  the Groom (Moses) would come down the mountain to relay what the Groom said….how their family would function….how their marriage would work…how they would live together as a Family.  He had written it down….in stone.   The Bridegroom trusted His Friend Moses with this history-making responsibility which was intended to last throughout the entire history of the family/nation  He and His Bride would establish.

The first version did not go so well.   The “document” literally  broke apart.

The Friend of the Groom returned to the mountain top meeting place, and the Groom again dictated to His Friend Moses all the foundational agreements (10 Commandments) that were necessary for this Family to succeed, to last.  No longer slaves, they had to learn how to live in freedom.

They had to learn how to live as a family…and as a nation.

Moses spent a lot of time with The Bridegroom on that mountain top.   He made a lot of trips up and down the mountain on the Groom’s  behalf.   But Moses kept the Bride’s focus on the Groom, not on himself.   He knew that he was in the shadow of the Groom, and his role was to faithfully and truthfully represent the Heart of her Groom, continuing to help her know Him in all of His Truth, Faithfulness and Love.  The Groom had entrusted His Name, His Reputation, and His Heart to His Friend Moses.

Moses remained the faithful Friend of the Groom for the rest of his life.  He represented The Groom well.  Moses led the Bride to the Land that was to be her Home…the Home she would share with her Groom.

At last, Moses stood at the Doorstep of that Home, the Land of Israel, and watched the Bride walk through the Door with her Groom.

Then Moses rested.

 

 

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Where’s MY  tent?

“He moved on to the hills east of Bethel,

and he put up his tent

—with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east.

He also built an altar to the Lord there and worshiped the Lord.”     

Genesis 12:8

 Abraham was on the move.  That’s just part of living in a tent!  There’s a whole culture tied to tent-living:  Moving often, a sense of “temporary” to life, a sense of vulnerability to elements of nature as well as to the people who may cross your path.  It’s the typical housing of shepherds, herdsmen, and people who enjoy “camping” in the heart of nature.

But as Abraham journeyed into the new world of following God, he had to continually make adjustments….he was perpetually in a learning mode.

This time, he was settling into a region where he’d not been before,  among a people and culture that was not his own.

The details of places named in Bible stories are significant, though we in 2020 rarely catch the significance of those details.  Yet the details are there for a reason:

Bethel:  One side of where Abraham set up his tent-home.  Bet= house  El= of God

Ai:    On the other side of him, representing things of the world, but apart from God

Abraham set up his tent between the two places.  Then he built an altar, where he would worship the One God he followed.  He would make sacrifices on that altar as a regular act of worship.

Isn’t it similar to the place in this world where we live?   We live out our ‘tent’ lives between the God Who has come to us and drawn us to Himself, but always in sight of this earthly world which demands that our attention be drawn away from God.  Both are in our sights, and we daily have to determine which we will be drawn to….belong to.  Our ‘tent’ is to be held loosely…tents are not permanent.

Altars are built of rocks.  They are meant to last.  They’re not disposable nor dispensable.  Altars stand as reminders of Who we worship…Whose we are.  And long after we’re gone, the altar of our worship stands, a testament of the One Who called us and made us His Own in this world.

So….. where is your tent?

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ALONE

“Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane,

 and he said to them,

‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’

He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him,

and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.

Then he said to them,

“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.

Stay here and keep watch with me.”

  Matthew 26:36-37

I have read this story every year for as long as I can remember.  But this year, perhaps because of the global fear that has covered this old earth, I read it differently than ever before.  I had always looked on the horrific death that Jesus suffered as the very worst point of  His earthly experience.  But this time, something else is standing out for me . . .

I hear in His words in that olive garden the deepest battle that Jesus was going through.  There was a battle taking place in His very soul.

He said His soul was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.  He didn’t want to be alone.  He was in a battle that would be the deciding moment for all of Eternity….for all the people who would ever walk this earth.  His Battle was with Satan himself.  It became so intense that He repeatedly went to his closest friends, asking them to be with Him….to engage in what was happening in His Mind…His Heart…His Soul.  His horrific inner battle came out of His very pores… sweating blood.  He described His sorrow as overwhelming “to the point of death.”

This was where the Battle of all battles was being fought.  I imagine all the voices of Hell, led by Satan Himself, screaming…screeching in Jesus’ ears…  “DON’T DO THIS!!!”   “DON’T DO THIS!!!”  “THERE ARE OTHER WAYS!  YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THIS!!!”  Here was Jesus’ deepest Battleground.  It was the Battle of making the final choice.  His final decision…to die as the Perfect, Sinless Lamb of God.  Everything for the rest of eternity hinged on this battle.  It would spell the final outcome for all of humanity for the rest of history.

Jesus showed no resistance when it came to His arrest later that night….His “trial”…. His beatings….His public humiliation….His torture….His horrific crucifixion….His final breath….His death.   He had made His Decision in the garden.  Alone.  Sweating blood.

All of the powers of hell itself could not stop Him from His choice to give His life as the Final Sacrifice for the people of this earth.

His response to the deafening screams of hell,   “DON’T DO THIS!!!”   ???

“It is finished.”

………

What is your toughest battle ground?  What pain can push you to the point of feeling like you’re on the brink of being destroyed?  I have had pain in my life that I did not think I could survive.  This included decisions of others that would impact the rest of my life….watching them move on without me, watching…bloody and barely able to think.

When Jesus needed His Friends most, they literally went into hiding.  He had to face “the worst” without them.  He was abandoned by those with whom He had walked side by side every day.  Yet, there were others who had been less close to Him, simply “being there” out of love.

In my own darkest moments, Jesus was there.  His Spirit…His Presence came so near.  Not with a sermon, or a book, or instructions.  No words were needed. . . He was there, and that was what I needed most.  He didn’t “fix” it…He didn’t change it.

He was simply there.

 

 

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Darkness

“As the sun was just about to set,

a deep sleep

-a dreadful, deep darkness-

came over Abram.”

Genesis 15:12

Abram had just experienced an amazing time with God.  He had promised Abram some life-changing events that were in his future….glimpses of what He had planned for him.  God had sealed those promises with a private ceremony….just between Himself and Abram.   Then, midstream, Abram experiences “a dreadful, deep darkness.”

Have you ever had those bright, shining moments….only to be followed by the opposite extreme?   I know that sometimes I’ve felt like a ping-pong ball….being batted back and forth between two opposing circumstances.  The “shining moment” becomes a “dark cloud” that has come out of no-where.

Sometimes, the “LIGHT” of God surrounds us in moments that are almost blinding.  Then the “shadow” hits.  The contrast is so confusing!  Frustrating!

What if . . . God’s Hand is creating the shadow.  What happens in the shadow?  On this earth, when the sun hits us full-force, it becomes too much to bear.  We look for shade.  We head toward a shelter that will give us some relief from the blazing light and heat of the powerful sun.  God describes Himself as Light, and speaks of the “shadow of His Wings.”

When God’s own Hand casts a shadow on our lives, there is always a purpose.  It is not cruelty, or just  playing with our minds and hearts.  That is not Who He is.

When I am in the desert, the sun can be absolutely unbearable.  Finding a shadow is crucial, and remaining in that shadow is the best place to be.  With the blazing heat of the sun so near, I need . . . want to remain in the shadow.  Further physical activity must pause.  Time, slowly ticking moment by moment,  becomes the perfect setting to think….to listen.   

Abram was learning this. He was learning how to listen to God.  God continued to speak to Abram even tho’ he was in a darkness that God had allowed.  His Promises continued.  His plans continued to unfold, but in a way that He had Abram’s full attention.

When the Shadow comes, don’t run… don’t scramble to create your own light.  Be still. Wait.   Listen.   God is in the Shadow with you.                                   [read all of Genesis 15]