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Respite For the Weary
For some reason, I have had a picture on my mind, one that I drew years ago for my kids when they were all "in the nest". I dug it up from a journal and want to share it today in hopes that it is a blessing to you. The verse that goes with this picture is Matthew 23:37:
Jesus said, "How often I wanted to gather you children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings...".
Other verses to visualize concerning "His wings" are these:
He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. Psalm 91:4
For You are my help; I will sing of joy in the shadow of Your wings. Psalm 63:7
After thinking about these verses, can I just rest in the fact that I am a "little chick in a big barn yard" who has the sweet opportunity to be pulled inside and protected underneath the warm wings of a mighty "mother hen"? There I will find both peace and joy; there the clamor stops and the security starts. Why do I sometimes choose to go chirping about in blind forgetfulness, turning this way and that, anxious for nothing? What else "out there" could be more inviting than the blessings found underneath His wonderful wings?
We get pulled out by so many distractions and temptations. Let us refocus out gaze on our Provider, the One that loves us most, even more than we love ourselves. He knows us best, and gives us what we need, when we need it. His best is there for the taking...underneath His wings. The movement with Him is the movement that brings us most life, not the self-scampering we tend to do alone out in the far corner of the barnyard.
With this image in mind, little chicks, let's choose to chirp out loud a prayer in unison today:
Dear Lord, Thank you for your loving care that is found underneath Your merciful and mighty wings. Cause our hearts to long for You above all else. You move us about with Your loving guidance and sweet freedom. There are so many lures that want to pull us outside of Your protective love, but give us the foreknowledge that these are mere temptations with no end benefits. Pull us inside of Your wings, and become our refuge from this culture, our protection from ourselves, and our shield from the enemy. Give us what we truly long for, which is "Your love that is better than life" (Psalm 63:3). Yes, hide us, sweet Savior, in the shadow of Your wings. Amen
(Paul defends himself before Agrippa), "So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. This is why the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. But I have had God's help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to the small and great alike." Acts 26:19-22
Dear Lord,
When we hear from you, whether it's directly from your word or through someone's biblical teaching or by the prompting of your Spirit, give us the desire to obey your commands. Make us willing to speak about who you are so others can come to know you as Savior. Prevail in, through, and around us. Amen.