Shade and Sweet Baby Ray's

I never understood why people carried umbrellas on sunny days until I moved to the South. They used to be called parasols and were quite the fashion statement. Made of cloth and edged with ruffles, parasols served a purpose beyond style. They protected a woman’s skin from the damaging effects of the sun and kept her body from overheating. 

I’ve never seen someone carrying a parasol, but I do occasionally see someone carrying an umbrella when the sun’s shining. I totally get it. The summer sun in South Carolina can be merciless. It can be pretty intense in the fall and spring too. Shade of any kind (even the Mary-Poppins-black-umbrella-type) can make a 10-degree difference in body temperature. 

I thought about parasols, and umbrellas, and shade recently as I drove south on I-77. The sky was clear and blue, and the sun shone brightly. The temperature gauge read 71, but the interior of my car was toasty. My left arm, resting in a patch of sunlight, felt like a marshmallow roasting on the end of a stick. 

Then an 18-wheeler carrying Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce drove up beside me. Casting its long shadow over the length of my car, it moved between me and the hot afternoon sun. 

Instantly everything changed. The temperature inside the car dropped. The glare eased, and my toasted marshmallow arm stopped sizzling. I sighed as the soothing shade cooled everything it touched. 

The refreshing and restorative power of shade isn’t new. David the psalmist/shepherd wrote about it in Psalm 121. He knew what it was like to sit for hours in the Judean sun watching his sheep graze. He also knew the value of a well-placed shade tree or drifting cloud. Perhaps this is why he described God as “the shade at your right hand.” 

Listen to his words: 

“The Lord watches over you — the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.” 

What a beautiful picture of God. 

When the glare of our circumstances distorts our perspective, the shade of his presence enables us to see with clarity. When the heat of trials threatens to incinerate us, God’s presence cools the flames. When the blazing rays of difficulty beat down upon our heads, God positions himself between us, refusing to let them consume us. 

If you’re melting under the heat of a fiery trial right now, let God be your sunshade. Allow him to refresh you by spending time in his Word. Rest under the protective canopy of prayer. Take refuge in the shadow of his presence, knowing that he watches over you. 

I rode in the shade of the Sweet Baby Ray truck for miles. Then the interstate took me west, and the heat of the sun eased. As my escort and I parted, I thanked the Lord for a tangible reminder of the way he cares for his children. 

And I vowed to seek out the shade of his presence instead of stubbornly navigating the scorching highways of life without him.

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