“He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge” Psalm 91:4, NKJ
A few days ago I sat on the chairlift, shoulders hunched, chin tucked into my chest against the icy New Hampshire wind. I envisioned a baby bird huddled under their parent’s chest. It led me to think about the day where Psalm 91, with its image of being tucked up under Abba’s wings, became life-sustaining to me.
In July 2016, I found myself in a hardware store far from home, having been transported there by a cataclysmic tornado of events that decimated my world. Literally fleeing for my life, I had been offered safe refuge by a friend who had recently re-joined the ministry to pastor a church in Delaware.
Looking to distract me, she tasked me with getting a curtain rod. A stunned fog of emotional pain enshrouded me as I (unsuccessfully) scanned the shelves. An employee I found sent me back to where I had just been. Frustrated, I looked back down towards the lowest shelf.
Laying at my feet was a huge feather that had not been there before……and the curtain rod!
Stepping out into the parking lot, a bald eagle swooped over my head and then drifted off. As we looked at it in awed wonder, my friend told me that, in prophetic circles, the bald eagle represents the Holy Spirit.
On the way home, we turned on a local Christian radio station. The announcer was reading Scripture, and it was (you guessed it) Psalm 91! My friend said it had been used as a prayer of protection for centuries.
An (admittedly) “lukewarm” Christian who had not yet been baptized, to that point Jesus had been a bit of an abstract construct. But in that moment, He suddenly became VERY real! I saw that I was quite literally walking out Psalm 91. Amid my brokenness and suffering Jesus was telling me that, like the eagle flying overhead, He was with me. I was His baby eaglet, tucked up under His wings. He would keep me from the fowler’s snare. I was SAFE. Since that day, I have seen a bald eagle, a feather and some part of Psalm 91 every blessed day!
I share this with you because, like David before me, as I fled for my life and cried out to him in lost desperation, Abba showed up for me. What He did for David, He did for me. And what He did for me, He will do for you.
Let’s thank Him for the promise that whatever we face, when we come up under His wings, in His feathers we will ALWAYS find shelter!
Challenge
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How does Abba show up for you in the “wilderness” times in your life? What does His “comfort” look like to you?
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Do you have ‘sustaining” Scriptures that see you through tough times?
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How can you use your wilderness time to help comfort others?
By Donna Devlin|Bethlehem, NH