THE SHADOW YOU KEEP
What follows you reveals what you stand in.
Jodi took this picture in my backyard, standing at the cross. Sent it to me a while later and asked me to write a Spark on it.
It wasn’t hard.
Jodi sent me this picture…
but what he really sent me…
was something to look at twice.
A shadow stretched long across the ground.
A man standing in front of a cross.
Light behind him.
Form ahead of him.
And something about it… stayed.
There’s something about a shadow…
it never leaves you.
From the time you’re born
to the time you die…
it follows.
Sometimes in front.
Sometimes behind.
To your left.
To your right.
It changes size.
Changes shape.
But it never stops showing up.
Unless…
the light changes.
DEDICATION
To the Holy Spirit — for the constant presence that walks with me through every decision, seen and unseen. The quiet witness. The one who reveals what I cannot see on my own, and keeps me aligned with what is true.
To my wife, Marty — who reminds me daily, often through something as simple as Jasper at my feet, what it looks like to walk in step. Loyal. Present. Always there… like a shadow that never needs to announce itself.
To my brother Jodi — who sees what others walk past, and took a simple moment and turned it into something worth looking at twice. Your encouragement doesn’t just follow… it strengthens. I’m grateful for you.
To the reader — who may recognize something here. The shadows that follow. The ones that shape. And the quiet invitation to look again at what’s really casting them.
SCRIPTURE
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me.” — Psalm 23:4 (NKJV)
“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” — John 8:12 (NKJV)
THE HOOK
I remember a moment years ago…
a little girl in a backyard…
screaming.
Not playing. Not startled.
Terrified.
We thought something had happened.
The pool was nearby…
My mind went there fast.
I ran out ready to rescue.
Heart pounding.
THE STORY
There she was…
frozen.
Hands up to her face.
Tears running.
Shaking.
I dropped down beside her and said,
“What’s wrong?”
She pointed…
couldn’t even get the words out…
“It’s following me…”
I looked down…
And there it was.
Her shadow.
Every move she made…
It made.
Every step she took…
It followed.
And the more she tried to get away…
The more it stayed.
She wasn’t afraid of the shadow…
She was afraid of what she didn’t understand.
So I reached out and took her hand.
We moved together.
Slow.
Then faster.
Then she stopped…
and watched.
And something shifted.
Fear…
turned into curiosity.
Curiosity…
turned into laughter.
And before long…
She was chasing it.
Running from it.
Running back into it.
Completely free…
From what had just held her captive.
THE MOMENT
Somewhere along the way…
We stop chasing our shadow…
and start being shaped by it.
I’ve watched mine for years.
Different seasons. Different angles.
Times it looked strong.
Times it looked worn.
Times it stretched further than I thought it should.
And times it nearly disappeared.
But it was always there.
A quiet reminder…
that something was behind me.
Standing there…
looking at that cross…
I saw something I had missed before.
Every man lives with a shadow.
Few stop to ask whose light is casting it.
You don’t choose whether you have a shadow.
You choose what you stand in.
THE TURN
Not all shadows are the same.
Some are cast by fear.
Some by pride.
Some by things we never dealt with.
Some show up in the night…
when everything feels out of alignment.
When you can’t see clearly…
But you can feel something isn’t right.
Those shadows don’t follow light.
They wait for its absence.
But there’s another kind.
The kind that shows up…
when you’re standing in the right place.
THE DRIFT
Don’t focus on what follows you.
Be your own source.
Stand tall enough and the shadow shrinks.
The light you need is already inside.
I stood in my own light and watched my shadow stretch the wrong way. For years.
THE REFLECTION
In complete darkness…
There is no shadow.
Nothing revealed.
Nothing defined.
Nothing exposed.
But in the presence of true light…
Everything becomes clear.
Not just where you are…
But what’s actually behind you.
The cross doesn’t remove the shadow.
It reveals it.
Aligns it.
Puts it in its proper place.
You don’t lose your shadow in the dark.
You lose the light that made it visible.
WALKAWAY LINE
What follows you matters less than what you’re standing in.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Whose light is casting the shadow you’re living under?
MY PRAYER
Heavenly Father,
Help me see clearly.
Not just what follows me…
but what I’m standing in.
Expose the shadows in my life
that were never meant to lead me.
And keep me in Your light —
where truth is revealed, not hidden.
Where I don’t have to guess
what’s shaping me.
And where I can walk forward
without fear of what follows.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
ABOUT G~
G~ writes from lived experience — exploring identity, authority, and time through the lens of faith, trial, leadership, and surrender. His reflections are not meant to condemn or hype, but to steady. Rooted in covenant, forged through adversity, and anchored under the authority of Jesus Christ, his work invites readers to examine who governs their lives — and to live intentionally under truth.
If what you’ve read resonates with your journey, feel free to reach out.
G~
“Me and my shadow, walking down the avenue” The shadows also can provide the time of day on a sun dial. Your shadow changes with time. LOVE
Awww, G. Another spark for thought, Love it. ... ❤️. Thank you !!