Second Month, Thirty-third Step

Today is a special day as is every February 2^nd. Twenty one years ago, as Punxsutawney Phil was looking for his shadow, in the same quarter hour of the morning, at 7:22, my first son was born. In that year, I doubt my interest in the famous groundhog’s prediction was foremost in mind. If anything, my concerns probably lay more in preparing for adding Child #5 to my brood than with the possibility of having to deal with six more weeks of winter. A slight extension in one winter season was hardly worth a passing thought compared to the decades of child-rearing stretching far into my future,

With my children grown, having time to think about shadows is a luxury I can now afford. Instead of waking up in the morning only to have my feet hit the floor running, I can take my time, building momentum at a leisurely pace. Who would have thought that lounging in bed, staring across the room at a vase of peacock feathers, could be so pleasurable? I kid you not! I love the brilliancy of color in peacock feathers; an arrangement of several in a vase on my desk is but a taste of the beauty I enjoy when an array of feathers is displayed by a peacock itself.

The other morning, in the dimness of the dawn light, my eyes were drawn past the peacock feathers to the large shadows cast on the wall behind them. The contrast between the feathers and their shadows was thought-provoking. The two were similar in shape, but in size and color they were as dissimilar as night and day. One was vibrant and full of detail, the other was monochrome and vague. I had before me a perfect spiritual reflection of the contrast between truth and lie.

The enemy is a master of illusion. He cannot genuinely replicate the truth, but he can produce a convincing counterfeit. Truth has substance and qualities that the lie only appears to possess. Illusion is key to the power of deception. One of Satan’s primary strategies is to present the lie as larger and more substantive than the truth. If he can get us to believe something is real, it might as well be--for the effect it has on us: intimidation, fear, discouragement, retreat, despair and host of other life-sapping, life-robbing results.

Truth is real, endures, and remains unchanged; the lie exists, but is not true and has only the staying power people give to it. Trouble can look larger, appear stronger, and exert great pressure on us, but it is not bigger or mightier than God, or us in Christ. Finding and keeping a hold on truth is not easy in the face of opposition forces, but truth does not move, hide, or fade. Light dispels darkness; truth exposes the lie for what it is—a mere shadow with no true ability to overcome or defeat us. Belief in the truth deflates and dissipates the lie and its effect; belief in the lie inflates its efficacy, but has no power to affect truth's ability to conquer.

Perception and choice critically affect our quality of life every day. God has made life vibrant, with evidence of His goodness all around us. God tells us we can expect trouble, but we can face it with an expectancy of guaranteed victory--already procured. The only variable is our acceptance of it. We can choose to live in the light of victory or in the shadow of defeat; to focus on the peacock feather or its shadow. If I can take one in hand, I think I prefer the feel of the former over the latter!

1 John 4:4 “This is the victory that has overcome the world—your faith.”