You’ve walked through a few of those dark days—full of uncertainty and the inability to “shake it off.” It’s a struggle when you feel the hardness of your own heart. Feelings of desperation, ugliness, anger, sadness, loss, and sorrow…
None of us is immune.
And you’ve probably had a few of them. When the sorrow overtakes and you can’t seem to get out of bed—or, you don’t dare to pray because you don’t know what you’ll say.
Then Jesus led his disciples to an orchard called “The Oil Press.” He told them, “Sit here while I go and pray nearby.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with him. However, an intense feeling of great sorrow plunged his soul into agony. And he said to them, “My heart is overwhelmed and crushed with grief. It feels as though I’m dying. Stay here and watch with me.” Then he walked a short distance away, and overcome with grief, he threw himself facedown on the ground and prayed…
Matthew 26:36-39a TPT
Dread…
Our beautiful Saviour, crushed with grief, overwhelmed in a garden.
A place of beauty, a valley with a river—do you think He noticed His surroundings?
It was the same garden that David wept in when he left Jerusalem during Absolom’s rebellion. If there was any person in the Bible that knew how to articulate his feelings, with expressions that still resonate today—it was King David.
“When you abide under the shadow of Shaddai, you are hidden in the strength of God Most High. He’s the hope that holds me and the stronghold to shelter me, the only God for me, and my great confidence.”
“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.””
Psamls 91:1-2 TPT & NKJV
Perhaps, we make the mistake of associating shadows with depression—rather than with God!
Under the shadow of Shaddai—the Hebrew root word for “God the Almighty” (no power greater) or “God of the Mountain” (no place safer). In Him you are hidden, or you “endure through the night.” You can make it!
When it comes to shadows—elementary science teaches us that shadows are created when we block or get in front of the light source. Shadows are not reflections, but they do suggest a “nearness” to light…
You are invited to dwell, and dwelling in His shadow removes the anxiety of your own shadow. Once you dwell you find that He’s the hope that holds you, your confidence, your stronghold, fortress, refuge, and shelter. Could God be any clearer—He wants you under His protection!
“Every child of God looks towards the inner sanctuary and the mercy-seat, yet all do not dwell in the most holy place; they run to it at times, and enjoy occasional approaches, but they do not habitually reside in the mysterious presence.”
Charles Spurgeon
Like all things “God” in this life—He flips the meaning. He does want us to live under a shadow—His.