You are my secret hideout!
You protect me from trouble.
You surround me with songs of rescue!
I will instruct you and teach you
about the direction you should go.
I’ll advise you and keep my eye on
~Psalm 32:7-8 (CEB)
I miss my shadow. When I step right he steps with me. When I step left he still follows. Sometimes I am unaware of his presence as he quietly watches what I do. Other times he is more in front of me tripping me up as I try to go about my day. He is always there. I was a shadow to my mother too. I knew it was time to give my mother some space when she started singing “Me and my shadow”. My shadow is a little more persistent and tends to cling more when I hint or outright ask for space. I have learned to breath through the claustrophobic moments because as he briefly told me “Bye mom, Love you,” when he dismissed me to run off and join his camp family for the week, I know these times are limited.
As I have hummed the tune to a song I only know four words to, I think about how we are supposed to be shadows too. God has asked me to be His hands and feet in the world. I often wonder how I am to know how to do that. But God sent Jesus into the world for me to shadow. Where He has stepped we are to follow. When He loves the unloved, I am to love. When He reaches out to the forgotten, I am to reach out. The things that make Him sad should make me sad too. The things that make Him mad should bring a righteous anger in me as well. Jesus is the example I am to shadow in this world. And when I feel lost, alone, afraid or upset, it is Jesus whom I should cling to as close as a shadow can be, never letting go.
Dear Jesus, sometimes I am as unsure as a young child. I don’t always know what to do or where to go. Thank You for being in the world for me to shadow. Help me to remember to cling to You in all circumstances. Guide me as I try to be in this world doing what You have called me to do. Amen.
Pieces of the Puzzle 