One sunny afternoon after a roping we hosted here at our house, we were all sitting around in the yard relaxing. Canyon Jo, my five year old niece noticed Max, my Jack Russell Terrier, laying under a lawn chair. She casually looked at Emma and I and said "Max is having shade." Wide eyed and a little confused we nodded and cracked up laughing. She didn't say having "some" shade or laying in the shade but simply "having shade." And he was. He was having shade.
Shade is quite a gift when you think about it. The ability to have shade is a huge blessing and so very important. Not everybody does. Not everyone owns a home, a tree, a big old cowboy hat or even an umbrella and at times, we all simply need to have shade. Shade protects you from the sun and cools you in the heat. It can shelter you from rain, wind and even hail. It can keep you dry and away from harm. Having shade is a big deal.
It can be 100 degrees outside and if you walk into the shade, it's instantly better. It's bizarre really. If you own cattle, you know where they are on a sunny or rainy day. If a barn is available, they are under it. If not, they find a tree. And they should at least have that or you shouldn't own cattle. Just saying. It doesn't matter if there are 300 trees and 300 cows, all 300 cows are under one tree together so one tree will do. They stick together which is another form of protection isn't it? Cows aren't that different from people. They travel in packs. They are herding animals and like to be together but mainly they do it for protection. A group is less likely to be attacked than one stray animal. It's their natural instinct to stay together and ours too. If it's not ours, it should be. Girls...STAY IN PACKS! Boys...you too! It's just common sense.
Sometimes, we shade each other. We keep our children under our wing like little baby chicks, away from the predators don't we? At least we try. We are their shade as long as they will let us be. We are their protection until they feel they can venture out on their own. And now, in this crazy world, we are told to stay away from each other. Go six feet away and sit in your own space, you're own shade. Well, you can't make shade alone. And alone, you are vulnerable prey.
I don't believe God sent this virus to punish us. To get our attention? Maybe? I don't believe God sent the virus at all but do we need Him to get our attention? Absolutely! And it worked didn't it. For about a month or two. For a month or two, people spent time at home, together with their families, just being protected and prayerful. And already, everyone is trying to get back to their crazy busy lives after just saying how nice it was to stop, stay home, breathe, rest...have shade. I don't know if God sent the virus. I don't believe He did but I do know however, that He has a plan and I'm assuming this is all part of it. How we react to it though, well that's the key.
I've been doing several different Bible studies lately and ironically, all of them are dealing with how we must go through trials and tribulations. How the bad things form us into the strong Christians we become. We can't learn anything if our lives are always rainbows and unicorns. I mean, I would love that and all but that's not life. You can't grow if you're never challenged and you have nothing to offer somebody else who is going through hell if all you've know is happiness. It doesn't work. Nothing worth having is easy to achieve. It's just not. Ask any professional athlete or surgeon. They didn't get there over night.
We are certainly in those trying times right now aren't we? Well, we are to rejoice in God during those times too. We tend to cry out to Him ONLY in those times. We don't have time for God when things are peachy do we? So, how about a pandemic? Does He have your attention now? How about when your kids can't go back to school, you can't go back to work and you can't pay your bills? Does He have your attention now? What about when YOU get the virus? Are you asking Him for shade now? He wants you to. He wants you to seek Him in the good, the bad and the ugly. He doesn't want to just be there during the bad but wants your attention all of the time. He is our shade.
So let's get through this horrible time together. Let's stop whining like the children in the dessert and begging for more, more, more and appreciate what we have. Let's give God the glory every day and show Him that we are listening. Let's protect ourselves and each other but with love and by sticking together, not getting further apart. If you are sick, stay home and if you must go out, wear a mask. Wash your hands. But don't live in fear. Live in love. And let's let this horrible time transform us into strong, molded, better than ever, warriors for Jesus. Show love. Have shade. Be shade. Buy a hat.
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