Shadowlands

I walked out of my front door this morning to go to my car and drive to the hospital to sit with Nana. Day 3 of this most recent hospital stay, I paused just long enough to see the beauty of the quiet stillness of early day. The birds were singing their song, the squirrels were actively running around on the ground and chasing each other through trees, and the sky, though brightening for a new day, still contained the last few stars hanging in the sky. All of nature rejoiced for the Sabbath, a new dawn, another day given to them by God. Yet I was off to a dark interior hospital room, where days and time were noted by calendars and clocks, completely cut off from the the beauty of creation.
God made the world and proclaimed it good. We are told how creation itself sings to the Lord and how the heavens proclaim the glory of God. He is the God over wind and waves and time itself bends to His will. His power knows no end. These things are true. But inside this little room, truth can seem clouded by the darkness.
Have you ever noticed how we just expect wedding days to be bright and sunny? Or birthdays to have a sweet breeze? There is something inside of us, as part of Gods creation, that knows that all was made to be good.
I have often wondered, although the rain is needed for things to grow, in the new creation, will there still be thunderstorms, or will it be the sprinkling of rain that just begs to be danced in? Will the sun still be blazing hot or just simply radiant? Will the wind blow so hard that tree limbs fall or will we just have the gentle breeze, carrying the sweet scent of the flower blossoms?
I've realized that every day we are actually living in these dark rooms, separated from true beauty, even when we are standing outside in the morning sun. The highest peak on the brightest day still pales in comparison to the true Mount Zion where Christ reigns on His throne.
But praise be to God! We are not captives to this darkness. Instead, we live in the shadowlands.
These days of beauty call us to rejoice in our Creator and His masterful work in Creation. And these days in the dark rooms call us to remember that everything we see is a shadow of what is to come. Once again, my mind is acutely aware of the "no longer, but not yet" existence we walk. But we do not walk alone. More than the cloud by day and pillar by night the Israelites followed in the wilderness, we have the true flame, the Holy Spirit, dwelling inside of us, leading us to an eternal promise land.
The darkness is gone, the promise is sure, and the love of God penetrates this dark hospital room just as brightly as the dawn ushers in the new day. The lingering shadow may try to weigh down my heart and my family in these uncertain times, but truth remains. A shadow can only exist when the sun is shining. In total darkness, there are no shadows. And a shadow changes form depending on the angle of the sun. It has no true substance. The truth is the light and The Light of the world has already cast out the darkness. If my eyes look simply at the shadows, truth can seem distorted and darkness seems ever present. But if I look at The Light, the shadow flees and only Truth remains.
Oh master of shadows, all you have is smoke and mirrors trying to distract us. Your day is done, the battle is won, and your darkness will surround you for eternity, while we bask in the Light of the Lord.