Every year my children eagerly anticipate Punxsutawney Phil’s celebrated emergence from his den. For those who may not know, Phil is a groundhog in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania with a gift for predicting weather. Legend has it that if Phil sees his shadow when he exits his lair on February 2nd, Groundhog Day, there will be six more weeks of winter.
The funny thing is that my children then remember which way his prediction went and talk about the weather accordingly until spring! They enjoy arguing back and forth about whether Phil’s prediction is accurate for the year. It is somewhat amazing the power this particular shadow has. There is also another shadow that we should pay attention to.
There are only so many hours in the day and so many days in a week. As westerners, most of us are production-oriented. Many of us try to “do it all.” Reality is though, we can’t. This is where that other shadow comes in. When we are focused on something, that thing is getting our attention or our “light” if you will. Other tasks, maybe even relationships, are going to be in shadow. In other words, if we are saying “yes” to something, we are saying “no” to something else.
Followers of Christ are not exempt from this. We may be under the impression that we can do more than the average person, after all, we have Christ strengthening us. But this isn’t exactly what Jesus taught. Jesus Himself often cast shadows. He stayed absolutely committed to doing only His Father’s will and if you read the Gospels closely, you will find that that involved a lot of “no’s.”
This might make a lot of us uncomfortable. It is uncomfortable. Learning to be okay leaving some things in shadow can take a lot of work. It involves learning about our limits and learning how to set boundaries primarily with ourselves. The good news is that it also frees us up to focus on what God has called us to at the time and really let our light shine.
“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
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