How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
Psalm 36:7 (NIV)
It’s a phrase we use. “To take someone under our wing,” means to take care of someone in such a way that you pay close attention to them, teach them, and pull them in close. It transfers wisdom and protection to us, like a devoted parent to a child.
It’s a beautiful sight seeing a bird cover their young with its wings – wings that soar on the wind, that can take a bird to great heights and swoop down to the ground, that stretch out and contract in. These wings look small when folded against a bird, but think of the eagle when its wings expand outward, how these unassuming flat limbs stretch out into beautifully strong wings. As they cover their young, their children find rest, comfort, protection and strength – refuge. Close to their mother, her children lean in and hear her heart beat, her steady breath. They fall asleep and rest to the rhythm of assurance and hope. Whatever is beyond these wings cannot harm them as they nestle in.
How beautiful that God looks after us in this way during seasons of our lives where we need nurturing. This summer, let’s embrace these wings.
But, September is coming. New seasons are coming.
These wings that cover baby birds are the same wings that push them out of the nest. In some seasons of our lives, God pulls us close, taking us under His wings so we learn and grow, finding comfort and warmth; we regain our strength. But after a time, He lifts His wings and nudges us out. Not on our own, not left defenceless, but confident that we have what we need to fly. A beautiful line from a poem written by Erin Hansen says,
“There is freedom waiting for you,
On the breezes of the sky,
And you ask “What if I fall?”
Oh but my darling,
“What if you fly?””
God has pulled me in close so many times, like a bird with its baby, covering me with His soft feathers and nourishing me with rest. It’s in this place of closeness that we grow. We gain strength and wisdom, our bodies are energized and our spirit rejuvenated. The very purpose of our rest is to prepare us for flight.
So let us prepare us for September. Let us be ready to fly!
“Those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles…” Isaiah 40:31
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