It was a cold, rainy, miserable day last spring, and I was driving my son to the bus stop early in the morning. I felt bad for all the kids waiting at bus stops as I drove past, only a fraction of them holding umbrellas to keep from getting soaked. As I passed by I observed one Dad waiting with his 5ish daughter, wearing a bright pink raincoat with her blue backpack secure on her back, and noted how he squatted down low beside her to hold the umbrella closer to her head for better protection. He looked uncomfortable in that position and the rain was bouncing off the ground to thoroughly wet the bottom of his pants, but he held still to keep the rain from soaking his daughter.
I thought, what a wonderful Dad to protect his daughter at cost to himself. It would have been much easier for him to stand up and his pants wouldn’t get so wet. Instead, he sacrificed his own comfort for his precious little girl. She stood still under the protection of his umbrella. A very short time later, I drove back the other way, was stopped by the bus’s lights, and observed how Dad crouched down to walk with her to the door, holding the umbrella close to her head to keep the rain off still, now his exposed back getting wet. These words rang in my head...
Safety lies in the shadow of your wings,
I rely on your faithful covering;
Arrows fly but I will not be afraid
When I dwell in the shadow of your wings.
The Lord has always been my protective covering although sometimes I have seen His protection only in hindsight. The warmth of ‘His down feathers’ brings me comfort, and ‘His contour feathers’ shield me from the bad weather/ storms of life. Of course, God doesn’t really have feathers, but there is a truth expressed in scripture, and that truth is that God is our refuge and we can find protection with Him. We can put our trust in Him. Of course, this doesn’t mean rain will never fall on us as it falls on the just and unjust (Mt. 5:45 ), but it means He covers us in all circumstances of life.
How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. Ps. 36:7
(all NKJV)
Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings, Ps. 17:8
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. Ps. 91:1,4
…Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by. Ps. 57:1
Like the Dad holding the umbrella over his precious daughter, our Father stands with us to cover us as we ‘wait’ through these troubled times of our lives, and one day He will safely see us to the door of the bus (Heaven) where we will be forever free of all calamity.
Thank You Jesus!