When the Shadows Shift

by Rebekah Bush, Guest Blogger

We live out on some land and so at night it gets to be what we call “country dark”- no street lights, no significant light coming from the closest neighbors- just complete darkness. The only nights we have good light are those of a full or harvest moon. And because it’s so dark, if you have to venture outside to close up the chicken coop or really for any other reason, any bit of light is a profound blessing. 

Doesn’t it feel like that in our world today? So much darkness- unrest, hurt, sin, disease, oppression and brokenness that we are walking through or see others walking through each day. Seeing all the darkness, makes me ever so much more thankful for the light! 

In the middle of darkness we are prone to change our opinion on the character of God. But God’s character doesn’t change when things are good or bad- when things feel dark or light. Rather, James reminds us that in the midst of all of life, we can surely trust that He is unchanging.

“Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.”James 1:17 NLT

I usually zero in on the good and perfect gifts when I am reading this verse (anyone else with me?), but today I started thinking about the shifting shadows.  We live in a world of constant change- jobs, relationships, locations, health, family structures, school and especially life schedules these days.  In the midst of all the shifts, things that can feel both light and dark, God is constant, unchanging, always able to be relied on.

A shadow shifts because it is not self sufficient but depends on the angle or tilt in which light hits the object as to how it is perceived. Shadows often are scary because they portray things as larger or worse than they really are. But we can hold infinitely to this truth: God is not dependent on anything in our world. He doesn’t change because an election happens, He isn’t surprised when a pandemic occurs, and the certainty of His love and character can be the ultimate comfort in all of these earthly things. He is the light and in Him there is not darkness at all (1 John 1:5). 

As we walk through darkness in our world with shadows shifting all around us (especially in 2020) , my prayer is that we would be filled with encouragement that God is steady and we can hold to Him.  He is in charge of everything from galaxies to governments and that’s never going to change.

Epesians 1:21 MSG- “God raised him (Christ) from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything.

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