Life's Daily Challenge Devotional

Safe in his shadow

“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by,” Psalm 57:1.

Dear sheltered one,

We often hear of those who live their lives in the shadow of another great person. The connotation here is that the person never really gets to make their own mark on the world because everyone judges and compares them by the accomplishments of their predecessor. What a wonderful thing it is to live in the shadow of Jesus Christ. The mark that each of us made on the world before knowing Christ reeks of sin and self-righteous acts that can never begin to come close to the glory of God. He gives each one of us the chance to be born anew to a life in His shadow.

The shadow of God is a refuge found only under His wings. This place is found under the outstretched wings of the cherubim of glory covering the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant. To be under His wings we must be on the mercy seat.

The mercy seat is where we find forgiveness and cleansing from our transgressions against God. He gives us one requirement to remain on the seat. We must extend His covenant to others. The degree to which we are willing to extend mercy to others is the degree to which God will show it to us. Mercy triumphs over the judgment that we rightly deserve. The measure that we use in judgment against others is the measure that God uses to judge us.

The mercy seat is a secure refuge. If we abide there the calamities of life will pass us by. As Psalm 91 says there may be terror on every side. We will see it all around us but it will not be able to affect us if we are hidden under the wings of God.

What a privilege it is to be judged by the accomplishments of the perfect Son of God. When the enemy tries to accuse us it is Christ’s record that is pulled out of the files of heaven. The heavenly Father defends us against the enemy’s attacks and accusations because of the unblemished record of His Son.

Many people fear being in the shadow of another. They worry that they will never find their own identity. I choose to be identified with Christ that others might see Him when they look at me.