God’s Shadow, Your Shadow

“The Lord watches over you — the Lord is your shade at your right hand” (Ps. 121:5, NIV).

My husband, Israel, read the above verse during our Sunday service this week. Only, of course he read it in Spanish (we live in Iquitos, Peru). Holy Spirit drew my attention to the word “shade,” which in Spanish is sombra. Interestingly, the same word also means “shadow” in Spanish. I guess that makes sense, right? Shadow and shade are basically the same thing.

Immediately, Holy Spirit brought this story to mind and connected it with the verse Israel had just read: “As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed” (Acts 5:15-16, NIV, bold emphasis mine).

What a fascinating parallel! In Psalms, God’s shadow is a vehicle of relief. In Acts, Peter’s shadow was a vehicle of relief. What does this speak to us?

To look into it further, let’s chew on the idea of shadow and shade. Our shadow reveals our shape, our form. So we could say that God’s shadow shows us His shape. It shows us what He’s like. In His shadow, we learn that He is our Protector, our safety. We learn that He is our refuge and our rest. We see this again in Psalm 91:1, “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty” (NIV).

Shade also provides us with relief from the heat. Where I live in the Amazon Jungle, not far at all from the equator, this is vitally important. Sometimes I marvel all over again at what an enormous difference there is between the direct sunlight and the shade here. This is all the more the case in the hours around noon. In a city with hardly any air conditioning, we jungle dwellers are ever grateful for the sombra!

Our Abba Father likewise provides us relief when things “heat up” in our lives. When we come into His presence, we find cool refreshing. We find an oasis in the middle of whatever hardship we are facing. His presence keeps us from spiritual sunburn!

So what about the parallel with Peter’s shadow? Could it be that this story is meant to be instructional for us? I believe so. I believe that Holy Spirit intends for our lives, too, to be vehicles of His presence touching others. I believe His desire is that, wherever we walk, His presence would spill out of us and onto those in need around us. I believe that the “shape” of our lives is meant to closely resemble His.

This is my passionate prayer for my own life, and for all of ours. I pray that those desperate for answers, for hope, for healing, would find it when our paths intersect with theirs. That it would be so noticeable that we carry His presence that they would reach out for what is on us. Lord Jesus, may our personal presence in their lives be a vehicle of safety, refreshing, and relief. May our shadow look like Yours!

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P.S. The day that I am writing this, 9.11.23, the verse of the day on Bible Gateway is Psalm 121:1-2, the same Psalm Israel was reading to us that day! I didn’t discover this until I was well into the writing process. I love how Holy Spirit gives us those signposts along the way assuring us that we are being led of Him 😊.

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Did you notice the end of verse 16 there in the Acts story? “All of them were healed.” That’s not a hyperbole. Why is that detail included?