I have lived in the city
since I moved out of my parents’ house to attend college. A few years ago my
family moved out of the city to the far north coast of California where my
husband was the pastor of a small church. This was about as far from the city
as you could get. When we first moved, there were a few things that grabbed my
attention right away. One night someone walked past my house with a sheep on a
leash. Being a city girl, this was entirely new to me. Another time, someone
was giving us directions to their house and said, “Turn left where the three
donkeys are standing in the field.” Also, not a phrase you hear in the city.
One of my favorite things about living in this small town was the local feed
store, who in the spring, proudly proclaimed on their board: “Chicks Coming
Soon”! This would mean something entirely different on a billboard in a city.
The
Bible was not originally written to city folk, so there are a lot of places in
scripture where God’s provision and care for us is displayed through agrarian
pictures. In particular, He uses chicks quite a bit.
Once,
my husband found a duck and her baby ducklings far away from the river, who
were lost in the middle of concrete, houses and cars (these were city ducks).
It took quite a while, but somehow, he was able to herd that duck and her
babies back to the river. He said that periodically the mama would stop so her
babies could rest, and anytime she stopped, they would gather around her and
crowd into the shadow & shelter of her wings. Wings are what birds use to
shelter their young. It is where they gather them in for warmth, shade, and
protection. Under the mama's wings they find rest.
This
is a beautiful picture of provision, and we also find it in scripture: “the Lord, under
whose wings you have come to take refuge….” “For my soul takes refuge in thee,
and in the shadow of thy wings will I take refuge until destruction passes by”,
and finally, in Psalm 36:7 we are told, “All humanity finds shelter in the
shadow of your wings”. Today, if you need shelter, it is waiting. You only have
to rest in the shadow that is provided for you under the shelter of His wings.
