Isaiah 4:6
For over all, his glory will be shelter and protection: shade from the parching heat of day, refuge and cover from storm and rain.
I pretty much grew up in Florida so I know heat and humidity. The kind of heat that just soaks through your being and sticks to your soul. In my experience there is no escape from the heat in Florida. Except to go inside to the air conditioning. Why on earth did people live in Florida before AC?!?! Anyway, I moved to Colorado for a short time and one of my first experiences there was shade in the summer. Unlike Florida where the humidity makes the heat oppressive EVERYWHERE, in the dry air of Colorado the shade is actually refreshing. I mean like seriously, why didn't I ever know shade could be so refreshing on a hot summer day, refreshing! That experience in the Colorado shade was truly mind blowing for me.
I have also experienced some serious pain in my life. The diagnosis of my daughter with an incurable disease. Watching that disease slowly take her life over the course of 22 years. Watching my son continue to fight against the same disease today. In the same way I never knew how refreshing shade could be, I never knew how much healing God could bring me until I hurt that bad. Thanks to those experiences I know that God truly is my shelter from any storm. Whatever you may be going through God is waiting to be your shelter too. Take a minute to think about the life experiences that have shown you how cool it can be in the shade.
