Sometimes when I am feeling really low, the feeling is like being under a dark cloud.  It feels like shadows are all around, almost suffocating me.  Some important people in the Bible spoke in similar terms.

• Job said “My eyes have grown dim with grief; my whole frame is but a shadow.” (Job 17:7) He was suffering terribly because of all the terrible things that had happened to him, including the sudden death of his children.
• David said “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4).  Even though God had anointed David as King, and Saul had taken David under his wing, David was a hunted man. Saul turned on him and tried to hunt David down. And then later on in life, David’s own beloved son Absalom turned against him and he was on the run again.  David felt as though he was walking through the valley of the shadow of death.
• Isaiah said “So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.” (Isaiah 59:9).  This is how it felt to the Israelites in Isaiah’s day when they were far from God.

Did you ever think about the fact that you can’t have a shadow without light?  So one way to put it is that behind every shadow is a source of light.

• Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
• “….the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” (Matthew 4:16)

My Daddy used to say that the sun was always shining.  Sometimes we could not see it for the clouds, but the sun was still there, above the clouds.  He’s right, you know.  If you are feeling like you are living under a dark cloud, that you are being suffocated by dark shadows, look for the Light.  He is always there.

The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? (Psalm 27)

Blessings,

Judy