The Bible is filled with beautiful imagery that helps bring our interactions with God to life. One of my very favorite images found in God’s Word, and one of my favorite places to dive in prayer – especially when I’m feeling tired, troubled, or scared – is the shadow of God’s mighty wings.
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by. Psalm 57:1
Feathers are beautiful. They are soft and warm and comforting. Woven together, they form great, powerful wings that spread wide to welcome us and hold us close. They hide us from whatever storms and battles may be exploding and raining down around us.
But the sweetest secret gift waiting for us in the shelter of God’s wings is not actually found in the feathers or wings themselves.
The true treasure is in what lies beneath the wings.
When a little chick scampers for cover under its mother’s wings, it discovers – underneath all the layers of inviting and protective feathers – a soft, warm, strong, and living body.
A heartbeat.
As we burrow under God’s wings for shelter, we find ourselves pressing right up against the God Himself. In time our hearts starts beating in tune with His. We receive His love, His strength, His peace.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. Psalm 36:7,8
These are trying days. Behind all the politics, all the lies we hear daily, all the fighting and turmoil boiling around us, there’s a ferocious spiritual battle raging. It’s raging around the world and it’s raging right here in America. “Bombs” are exploding closer to the Church than my generation has ever seen before. Antagonism toward Christianity is on the rise. The Word of God is mocked and under attack.
Our society has turned its back on Truth, and we are beginning to pay the price. It’s becoming more and more difficult every day to discern truth from deception. When I read the news my head aches from trying to sort out fact from fiction and right from wrong.
It is as if all of us are living in different realities, but that isn’t possible. There can be many perspectives of a reality, and many experiences of a reality; but there can only be one reality.
How can we tell which is the right path? How can we know the right way forward when the lines of what is true and what is false, what is good and what is evil are so blurred?
In all the craziness of recent national and world events, I’ve been more grateful than ever for another place of refuge: the refuge of God’s Word.
We still have something in this world that doesn’t change. Something in this world that is sure. Something in this world we can trust. Something in this world that will never let us down.
We have a lens available to us that can fix the distortions and clarify all that is blurred. We have a bright light available to guide our steps through the darkness.
The Word of God is True. The Word of God never changes.
In the months and years ahead, the battle smoke around us is only going to get thicker. Our eyes are going to burn; we’re going to become increasingly disoriented.
Friends, we must seek refuge now under the wings of Almighty God. We must seek refuge today in His Word.
We are all – every last one of us – sheep. We are sheep that can be led so easily astray.
Eating, drinking, breathing the Word of God; meditating upon the Word of God; diving for cover under His wings through faith in Jesus – these are the only things that will keep us safe. They are the only things that will keep us from following the wrong voices and wandering down the wrong paths.
A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Isaiah 40:6-8
And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. Matthew 24:10-12
The wicked have laid a snare for me, yet I have not strayed from Your precepts. Your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever, for they are the rejoicing of my heart. I have inclined my heart to perform Your statute forever, to the very end. Psalm 119:110-112
Join me here as I seek refuge under God’s wings. Join me here as I seek refuge in the Holy and unchangeable Truth of God.