Shadow Dancing

Colossians 2:8-9
"They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. But that's not the way of Christ. Everything of God gets expressed in Him, so you can see and hear Him clearly. You don't need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Jesus Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without Him. When you come to Him, that fullness comes together for you, too."

Once upon a time, a young boy went for a walk with his father. When they had reached a nice copse of trees, the father suggested they play a game of hide-and-go-seek. The boy readily accepted. He loved to spend time with his father. He loved the wonderful surprise of hiding and being found. He loved the wonderful fear he felt every time he had to find his father. The boy hid first. The father began to count...1...2...3...the boy ran off to hide. He found a great place to hide behind a large fallen tree. He even covered himself up with some sticks and leaves to hide even better. He thought he had the best hiding place ever.

And then he heard his father yell, "Ready or not, here I come." He could hear his father walking through the woods, looking high and low. And then he heard footsteps come closer and closer and closer until... "Ollie, ollie oxen free! There you are!" And the father reached right down with great assurance and confidently pulled the boy from his hiding place.

"That was a pretty good hiding place, son." the father said.

"Dad, how did you find me so fast? I had such a great hiding place!"

"Son, that was easy. I know you so well. I know how you think. I know how you smell, how you breathe, how you walk. I know when you get up in the morning and when you go to bed at night. I know the hair on your head. And I know how you like to hide. Because I know you so well, I was able to find you so easily."

"Okay, dad. Now it's your turn to hide!" And so the boy buried his face into his arms and began to count while his father ran off to hide. The boy decided to cheat a little bit. He counted really, really fast and didn't yell, but only spoke in a normal voice, "Ready or not, here I come." He hoped that he could catch his father not having found a hiding place yet.

And so he did. As he rounded a corner, he saw his father's shadow just disappearing. The boy ran on after the shadow. And as he began to catch up to the shadow, he saw it go behind a tree. Now he knew he had his father! He crept up to the tree. His heart was beating wildly in his chest, threatening to leap right out. He knew how his father loved to jump out and surprise him when found. And so with fear wrapped in awe, he crept closer and closer to the tree. He checked his breathing, controlled it. He didn't even rustle any of the leaves as he walked. The tree was now directly in front of him. All he had to do was to peek around the tree and his father would be found! He took a slow, deep breath, and said, "Gotcha..."

His father wasn't there. How could that be? He followed his father's shadow right up to this very tree. The boy was perplexed.

There was another tree just a few feet away. It was a large tree...large enough for a grown man to easily hide behind. The boy sat down at its base to try to figure out this puzzle. And is if his thoughts were heard by his father, he felt a hand on his shoulder and heard his father's voice.

"Son, you only chased after my shadow. You never sought me directly. Shadows will go away when they are cut off from their Source of Light. But I will never go away, because I am the Source of Light. When you want to find me, don't go after my shadow, look directly for me."

Have you ever played with your shadow? From where you are right now, can you make a shadow? Or, maybe on your lunch break, step outside for a couple of minutes and look for your shadow today. I want you to notice some things about your shadow:

-it moves with you
-it mirrors you
-it becomes distorted depending upon where you move in relationship to the source of light
-it doesn't always exist
-it is a representation of yourself...your shadow is not you

Your shadow moves with you. Where you go, it goes. It mirrors your every movement. But, only as well as it is able depending upon where you stand in relationship to the source of light. If the source of light is directly perpendicular to the surface upon which your shadow is cast, the mirroring of your movements is nearly perfect. However, change the angle only slightly and the distortion of your shadow becomes readily apparent. Another thing about your shadow...take away the source of light and you take away your shadow. Shadows don't always exist. And, your shadow only represents you. It's a facsimile. It's only an image...it's not tangible.

At all times, we are supposed to seek God. Instead, so many people only seek His shadow. They only seek a transitory image of the Father and not the Father Himself. If you have experienced loss and seek comfort from a friend who knows the Father, you will only find the shadow of God...maybe not even that. Because if your friend happens to be having a weak time in their faith, you may not find even the shadow of God, because they themselves have turned away from the Source of Light in their lives. If you are in pain and you seek your only comfort in medication, again, you will find only the shadow of God. Medicine is a gift from God, to be sure, but it is still only a part of God's shadow. If you are lonely and you seek fulfillment in the arms of another person, you will find only a shadow of the fulfillment that you will receive from being in the arms of God.

Shadows are finicky and wily. They're hard to catch because they are so often distorted.

But that is the nature of shadows...it's not the nature of God. God wants us to come to Him. He desires it. He wants to be found. And when we find Him, the Scripture tells us that "fullness comes together for you." God may use His shadow to offer some comfort, some easing of pain, some fulfillment to our loneliness. But ultimately, all shadows fade with the disappearance of their Light Source. And when we seek a shadow, we often come up empty-handed.

Today, imagine that your life is like walking in the woods, playing a game of hide-and-go-seek with your Heavenly Father. When it is your turn to hide, you are so easily found because God knows you so well. From what are you hiding?

But when God hides, we so often only seek His shadow. And so God says to you today: "My child, you only chased after My shadow. You never sought Me directly. Shadows will go away when they are cut off from their Source of Light. But I will never go away, because I AM the Source of Light. When you want to find me, don't go after My shadow, look directly for Me. If you seek My shadow, you will find the emptiness of the universe. Instead, seek My face. Come to Me and you will find the fullness that comes together for you, through Me. Stop dancing with My shadow and dance with Me, My dear one."

“Ollie-ollie-oxen-free!”

Be WILD For Christ!

Pastor Shane