When out and about on hot sunny days we are always glad to find some shade to shelter in. I recall one such occasion in Papua New Guinea. I was with a number of Wycliffe colleagues on an assignment that was a part of our introduction to PNG culture during the Jungle Camp training programme.

For several days we had been visiting villages in the mountainous regions rising up from the Markham Valley. On this particular day we had been on the trail for several hours. It was early in the afternoon. The sun was high in a cloudless sky. It was hot. Very hot. The water bottle I had purchased from army disposals in Adelaide was now hanging lightly on my belt. It was empty. I was thirsty. Oh for some shade. But the next village was still an hour or more away. Just then some clouds gathered directly above us, providing shade and protection from the hot sun. That canopy of shade moved along with us all the way to the next village. There we rested under shady trees and I re-filled my water bottle from the cool waters of the river.

Tracing the motif of shade through the Scriptures recently, I noticed how the Biblical writers drew word pictures from the motif to portray the presence of the Lord. One of the Psalmists for example, drew this picture for us, “The LORD himself watches over you! The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade. The sun will not hurt you by day, nor the moon at night. The LORD keeps you from all evil and preserves your life. The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.”[1]

Been feeling the heat lately? Getting hot under the collar when decisions don’t go your way? Church business meetings generating some heated debate these past few weeks? The atmosphere at work been hotting up recently? Getting all hot and bothered as the pressure builds, like Martha[2], who became “distracted by all the preparations that had to be made” when Jesus called in one day?

Take time out to rest awhile in the coolness of the shade of the presence of the Lord. Be like Martha’s sister Mary who “sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he  taught.”[3] Consider David’s advice to the hotheads of this world, “Quiet down before God, be prayerful before him.”[4] When you feel the temperature starting to rise, remember, “The LORD himself watches over you! The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade.”

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