August 19
Safe in the Shadow
Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me under the shadow of Your wings.
—Psalm 36:8
Compromising Christians have too much of the Lord to be happy in the world, but too much of the world to be happy in the Lord. They know the world doesn’t have the answers, yet they don’t fully trust God either. It is a miserable no-man’s land. As Elijah made clear then, I say now: It is time to come out. It is time to stand up for what you believe.
Where did Elijah get his incredible courage and boldness? Elijah served a living God, not a dead one such as Baal. Like Job, Elijah could say, “I know that my Redeemer lives.”
Elijah realized he stood in the presence of the most powerful King of all, and it was God himself. This was true also when Elijah stood in the presence of Ahab, because he understood what Psalm 91 meant when it said, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (v.1). He was not afraid to stand before Ahab.
Have you ever tried to stand in someone’s shadow? You have to stay very close. If he moves, you have to mirror his actions. Elijah stood in the shadow of God no matter where he was. Sometimes we forget that. We think when we leave church, we somehow leave God’s presence. The truth is wherever we go, God is with us.
When you stand in the presence of God, you will not bow before any man. Proverbs 28:1 says, “The righteous are bold as a lion.” Elijah was bold because he was aware that he was always standing in God’s presence. He seemed to be the only one doing it at the time.
—Greg Laurie, Losers and Winners, Saints and Sinners
In his newest book, Losers and Winners, Saints and Sinners, Greg Laurie examines the lives of biblical personalities—good and bad—revealing why some fell and failed while others picked themselves up and finished strong in the spiritual race.
Copyright © 2005 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.