Under the Shadow - But Out of the Nest

Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.

Psalm 57:1

I've always pictured a mother hen with her little chicks tucked safely in the nest and under her wings when I read this passage. I know there is a hiding place we find in God. A refuge from the storms of life. That sounds like a stationary place, a singlular location. And frankly, I like the nest. It's warm and cozy. "Safe" is such a good feeling!

But as I was driving through the neighborhood this week, I noticed two large birds soaring over the pastureland and something shifted for me. With their great wings outstretched they cast quite a shadow on the grass below, and that shadow moved. It was not stationary at all, it was in constant motion.

Like birds hovering overhead, the LORD Almighty will shield Jerusalem; he will shield it and deliver it, he will ‘pass over’ it and will rescue it. Isaiah 31:5

I see God hovering over me, shielding me....AS I MOVE. It's a little scary, but maybe it's time to leave the warmth of the nest. It's time to venture out into the world, trusting that we are still under His shadow.

Remember Genesis? "the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters..." It was with His Spirit in that hovering position that God began the process of creation. The nest is a place of recovery, but the hovering shadow is a place of creation. What is He creating in me?

And God said "Let there be....and it was so."

Where do you see yourself? Safely tucked in the nest? Or out under the hovering shadow?


(A special thank you to Wild Leek Photography for use of your picture "Mother's Wing".)