“The Lord God will create. . . a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over all the glory will be a canopy. It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place form the storm and rain”
(Isaiah 4:5.6)
Each spring my husband puts up a canopy over our patio. It provides a lovely place for me to sit and enjoy my birds and flowers.
When I read the above verse, I think of this canopy. Our patio receives the afternoon sun. During the summer months it would be almost unbearable to sit there without the covering the canopy provides. And although it protects me from the intensity of the heat, I am still able to see and enjoy my surroundings. It is not a suffocating, imprisoning protection at all. God’s covering over me is much the same. He is my shelter and protection from Satan’s attacks of despair and depression. He covers me when I am afraid, gives me room to grow and learn while under His protection, and constantly gives me glimpses of His love and bits of heaven through His creation.
My canopy not only gives me protection from the sun but from the rain as well. When the storms of my life threaten to beat me down and drench me with many negative thoughts and emotions, God’s canopy is there to be my refuge and hiding place.
I think it would have been wonderful to have seen the visible signs of God’s presence in the cloud and smoke. Many times I long for a physical sign from God to encourage me. I may not be able to see my Lord face to face at this moment, but His presence is with me through my pain and suffering even as He was with the Israelites through their desert wanderings. Just as the glory of God’s canopy was their constant companion on their journey, His protective canopy will cover me continually until my longing to see His face is fulfilled.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to willingly accept and follow your path for my life, knowing your loving and protective canopy is always over me. Amen.
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