In the shadow of His hand has He hid us,
He has made us a polished shaft;
in His quiver has he hid us.
Isa. 49:2

“In the shadow.”

We must all go there sometimes.

The glare of the daylight is too brilliant;

Our eyes become injured,

We’re unable to discern the delicate shades of color,

We’re unable to appreciate neutral tints-

We’re shadowed in the chamber of sickness,

We’re in the shadowed house of mourning,

A shadowed life from which the sunlight has gone.

It’s ok.

It is the shadow of God’s hand.
He is leading us.
There are lessons that can be learned only there.

The photograph of His face
can only be fixed in the dark chamber.

Don’t suppose that He has cast us aside.
We are still in His quiver;
He has not flung us away as a worthless thing.

He is only keeping us close
When the moment comes
He’ll send us swiftly & surely on some errand
in which He will be glorfied.

We are shadowed,
We are the solitary ones,

remember how closely the quiver is bound to the warrior,
It’s within easy reach of the hand,
It’s guarded jealously.”
Christ in Isaiah, Meyer.

In some spheres the shadow condition
is the condition of greatest growth.

The beautiful Indian corn never grows more rapidly
than in the shadow of a warm summer night.

The sun curls the leaves in the sultry noon light,
but they quickly unfold, if a cloud slips over the sky.

There is a service in the shadow that is not in the shine.

The world of stellar beauty is never seen at its best
till the shadows of night slip over the sky.

There are beauties that bloom in the shade that will not bloom in the sun.

There is much greenery in lands of fog, clouds & shadow.

The florist has “evening glories” now,
as well as “morning glories.”

The “evening glory” will not shine in the noon’s splendor, but comes to its best as the shadows of evening deepen.

If all of life were sunshine,
Our faces would be fain To feel
once more upon them
The cooling plash of rain.

Henry Van Dyke