Shadows - the bad and the good!

So today I had, once again, a battle over this shadow.  Take a close look at the shadow on the driveway.  But more than that notice the tree.  It is a VERY LARGE tree and it is in our neighbors yard.  The branches hang very close to our cars when they are parked in the driveway.  And more than that, it is a messy, messy tree.  It sheds bark off of the trunk that ends up in our driveway and our yard.  It ALWAYS is dropping leaves.  Not just in the fall.  These LARGE leaves end up - you guessed it - in our driveway and our yard.  We are seriously afraid that one day we will end up with a branch through our roof or crushing one of our cars.   During the very scary storm on Sunday night, I was waiting for the loud crash of that tree coming down on our yard.  Ken and I have tried over and over to get the owner of the house (it is a rental) to cut down that tree or at the very least trim it.  But he seems very unwilling to do anything about it.  The tree is within feet of our driveway so the neighbors yard and driveway is not effected.  It is very frustrating.  Today I tried to deal with our homeowners association to get some assistance with this problem.  Unfortunately, it was not very successful.  I really don't like that shadow over our driveway!

But this morning I saw the following post from The Passion Translation..........

I hear His whisper..."Sit enthroned under My shadow"
"I have a glory waiting for you. It is the glory beneath My shadow, the glory of My presence. Hidden in My heart you are invited to come and sit enthroned under My shadow. Come closer.
There is a place where the enemy cannot touch you, or even find you. It is seated next to Me. It is real and it is your true home. I will shrink the distance between us as you pour out your heart in longing for Me. Let pure worship draw you near. Let passion for My presence keep you next to Me. Over you My glory will protect and mature your soul. How secure you will be as you live next to Me!

When you are under pressure, feeling confused about life--come to Me. When heartache and pain crowds into your soul, come and sit enthroned under My shadow. I will nurture your soul as a parent cares for a tender child. Do you long to see Me, to know Me, to experience My peace? My heart has become Your home. There is no greater love than the love I have for you, My beloved child. In My heart you will discover all that you desire, for I am your Father."
Psalm 91:1-4 The Passion Translation
When you sit enthroned under the shadow of Shaddai,
you are hidden in the strength of God Most High.
²He’s the hope that holds me, and the Stronghold to shelter me,
the only God for me, and my great Confidence.
³And he will rescue you from every hidden trap of the enemy,
and he will protect you from false accusation and any deadly curse.
⁴His massive arms are wrapped around you, protecting you.
You can run under his covering of majesty and hide.
His arms of faithfulness are a shield keeping you from harm.

Yes!  That is the shadow that I need to be focusing on!  I love that when I am struggling with something, Jesus is right there to speak into my place of frustration.  After I got off of the phone with the homeowners association, I could feel my blood pressure rising.  And then, like a flash, I remembered this post that I had read this morning.  I was able to go back to those words and rejoice in that shadow, the glory shadow of His presence!  And I did exactly what those words said.  When I was under pressure and feeling confused, I ran to Jesus.  What a comfort.

I can't tell you how much The Passion Translation has blessed my life.  Over and over the words touch deep places in my spirit.   Today I am extremely grateful for these words about an amazing, wonderful shadow that is just waiting there for me.  I encourage you to go back and re-read those words.  Let them sink in and picture that place in your imagination.  You just never know when you will need that place!

Jesus, thank you for meeting me during those times when I am NOT drawing near to you.  Thank you for your provision of words of comfort when we most need them.  Holy Spirit, thank you for reminding me of the words I had read, just when I was furthest away from you.  Jesus, help me to stay in the shadow of your presence!  Amen

Hidden beauty... and a great reminder!

Yes, I was very frustrated yesterday while trying to blog about finally being at home.  I started trying to upload a photo to my blog (something I do all the time) and every time I tried, the page would freeze and I would lose everything that I had written.  I did this several times (I know, I should have figured it out after one or at the most two times, but I really wanted to write the blog).  Then I tried a couple of other things, like restarting my computer (also tried lots of times) and restarting the blog program (many times).  I looked on line for help (not much available), posted a comment in a blogger forum (no one responded) and then tried several other browsers and still nothing worked.  I finally posted that short blog, shut off my computer and went to bed very frustrated.  This morning I tried my usual browser and it did not work.  So I decided to try another browser AGAIN.   And on the first try, it worked.  I have no idea why, I am just feeling thankful and blessed that it did!

This picture above is one of my favorites from vacation.  At first you might think that this is just a picture of sand.  But look closely.....very closely, right in the center of the frame and you will see the crab!  He would dart out of his hole and if we moved, he would shoot back in.  Ken actually laid on the ground in the sand with the camera poised to get this picture as the crab ventured out of the hole.  I love how he is so camouflaged that you can almost not see him.  He is truly, hiding in plain sight!   What a great gift it is for these crabs to be able to protect themselves, just by getting so covered in sand that you can't see them.  I was thinking of a recent Facebook post I saw, that called for all Christians to be OPEN and obvious about their faith.   It  is time for us to declare to the world that we are here and we are fighting in a war against evil.  The time for all of us to hide and blend into the background of society is gone.  All that strategy has done is allow evil to walk all over us and advance their plan. So I am going to purpose to NOT be like the crab in this picture.  I will not hide and blend in.  I know that it will take practice and lots of covering and prompting of the Holy Spirit, but I am going to do it.

Last night, as I lay in bed, very frustrated by this blog, I was thinking about the last post I had done.  I blogged about Ken's dad and his end of life struggle and our family.  After that post, I got many comments from people thanking me for being honest about this.   One person said they thought it was the best post I had written on this blog!  And then I heard the whisper of the Holy Spirit reminding me that Satan wants to prevent me from sharing encouragement and truth through this blog.  I went to sleep thinking that there would be an answer today.  And there was!  Isn't Jesus just amazing?  So I will keep blogging.  Sharing and truth telling through these writings.

Jesus, thank you for providing that little crab to remind me not to hide YOU from the world.  Give us all courage and boldness to strip away the covering and let your light shine through us.    Holy Spirit, thank you for reminding me that even when it seems like evil prevails, you will provide another way.  What an amazing and wonderful caring God you are, that even understands us in all of those frustrating moments. Thank you for the internet, Facebook, and blogging programs that allow your words to go forth to the nations.   Amen