READ: PSALM 91; JOHN 15:1-5; ACTS 16:22-25; COLOSSIANS 3:15-17

Today, while I was getting the hose and sprinkler sorted, I stood in the sunshine. It was nice, for a bit. But eventually the blaring sun was just too much. So, I moved my operation into the shade. Wow, was that better! Standing in the shadow of the house, I could keep on working and ultimately fix the problem with the hose.

In life, we can usually handle some discomfort; but we can’t bear up under blazing heat at high noon for long. Our bodies weren’t designed for it. God has made us lovers of shade.

As part of God’s great care and provision for His people, He provides the shelter we need in every kind of suffering. He provides Himself. He Himself is the One standing so close by that His shadow is our hiding place (Psalm 32:7). Even better than a house!

God’s comfort is always available as we abide in Jesus. “For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:5). From the comfort of His shade, we respond like the psalmist did, with great thanksgiving: “I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust’” (Psalm 91:2).

Come and dwell in the shadow of the Almighty today. Allow His presence to be your comfort, to shield you from the harshness of the hot sun. How? When we pray, sing to Him, and read His Word, we choose to abide in the shadow of the Almighty. We can also talk with trusted friends and mentors who can pray with us and lead us into a deeper relationship with Christ.

Have you endured blazing trials, and found your shelter in God’s shade? Perhaps you are the loving presence that offers a cool refreshing cup of water to the weary one in your life (Matthew 10:42). May God equip you to lead your friend into the shade. • Kristen Merrill

• Have you experienced blazing hot sun and searched for any bit of shade to provide relief? Have you experienced the relief the love of God brings to us in our suffering? What was that like?

• How could you offer that shade to someone you know? (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)

• If you want to dig deeper: In John 4, Jesus sat down by a well in the heat of the day and asked a Samaritan woman for a drink of water. Then Jesus said, “the water I give…will become…a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (see John 4:1-42; 7:37-39). To find out more about Jesus being our shade, read Psalms 17:8; 36:7; 57:1; 63:7; 121:5; Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:34.

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1 (NIV)