Reflecting a Beautiful Image

When I was growing up, the boys in our neighborhood used to try and catch each other’s shadows. We weren’t too successful. When you move, even just slightly, the shadow that is reflected onto the ground changes both in length and size. And if you stand completely still, your shadow will still constantly change as the sun’s position moves across the sky. The further away that the object creating the shadow is from the surface of projection, the larger the shadow. The length of a shadow is proportionate to the light source’s elevation angle.

Shadows and reflections are the opposite of one other. Shadows are formed on a surface when an object blocks a light source whereas reflections are created when light bounces off a surface. Shadows are usually black in color and rarely beautiful, while reflections have rich color and are often vibrant. Think of your body’s dark shadow projected upon the ground in contrast to the reflection of trees cast upon a still pond’s surface.  

No two shadows or reflections will ever stay the same. They are ever changing. Life is the same way. It too is ever-changing, even if you stand still. Change happens every day all around us. While most of us do not like change, change can be healthy. Change often forces us to mature and grow, to be (or become) flexible, and change often pushes us past our comfort zones into places we previously thought impossible. Change can also be painful and discouraging, causing us to question and doubt. Sometimes simply to survive, we are forced to change and adapt to the ever-changing environment around us.

In contrast to ever-ending change in us and around us, we have a God who never changes. The theological word for this is immutable, which is defined as unchanging over time or unable to be changed. God Himself tells us that He does not change. In Malachi 3:6 we read – “I the LORD do not change.” And we find these words in Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”  

In James 1:17 we are told, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

There is another image of shadows that brings great comfort; that being God’s protection – “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust’” (Psalm 91:1-2). 

So, while you cannot avoid change, you can cling to and rest in the constant shadow of the ever-faithful, never-changing God; the same God who created you in His image, who loves you, and who wants nothing more than to be your rock and your protection as life shifts all around you. And the more you cling to God, the more He changes you, and, get this, the more you reflect His perfect and beautiful image to the world around you!  

What reflected image do people see when they see you?

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