Under His Wings
Micah loves falcons.
Specifically, he loves peregrine falcons, birds of prey known for their ability to dive in excess of 300 km per hour, earning them the title of the fastest animal on earth. They can see prey 3 km away and manoeuvre their flight with agility and grace.
He loves them for their speed but also because they’re featured in his favourite book, My Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George, published in 1959. In the story, a 12-year-old boy named Sam learns to survive on his own in the mountains and raises a peregrine falcon named “Frightful.” The bird and boy have a special relationship, and it is this intimacy I suspect Micah loves most of all.
I read to him at bedtime: “Frightful fluffed her nubby feathers and shook. I picked her up in the cup of my hands and held her under my chin. I stuck my nose in the deep warm fuzz. It smelled dusty and sweet. I liked that bird. Oh, how I liked that bird from that smelly minute.” (My Side of the Mountain, p 46)
Micah squeals and snuggles under his blanket as he imagines himself as that baby bird, as I tuck him in and tell him he is loved, smelly or not.
It’s an image portrayed in the Bible of how God feels about His own:
Deuteronomy 32:10-12
“In a desert land he found him,
in a barren and howling waste.
He shielded him and cared for him;
he guarded him as the apple of his eye,like an eagle that stirs up its nest
and hovers over its young,
that spreads its wings to catch them
and carries them aloft.The Lord alone led him;
no foreign god was with him”
The tenderness, the strength, and commitment of God to nurture us – have you ever felt it? Perhaps in our daily bread, which we often take for granted. Perhaps in the midst of a personal storm, which we know we could not survive on our own. Perhaps in the exhilaration of the unknown, as we make difficult choices and await what the future brings.
Borne on large wings, we learn to trust.
“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” (Psalm 91:1-4)
This Sabbath, as it storms outside, may we choose to take sanctuary in God’s presence, finding rest in His reassurance that we are loved.
“Your wings,” by Lauren Daigle: https://youtu.be/rarj5wM1RjY
“Under His wings,” by Sisters: https://youtu.be/T6B-rRE2P08
“Under His Wings,” by Breath of Praise: https://youtu.be/zxpXpIY4XUs
by: Jinha Kim
"But those who drink the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:14