I Will Take Refuge In The Shadow Of His Wings

Psalms 57:1 “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.”

What struck me about this passage when I first read it was the last line. “I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.” The thought that came to my mind was, “Wouldn't it be nice to just rest in God’s shadow until the disaster has passed?” I thought about all the people I know right now who are in situations that feel like they are a disaster. I have a friend who is in a legal battle with a family member over money. Tony has a co-worker who is in intensive care, fighting for his life. I have a family member who just found out she has cancer. Another friend’s husband found out he is going blind. I got a text from a friend today who asked for prayers for her brother, who went to the ER today because he was having seizures. I could go on and on. It seems to be never-ending.

When I think of all of them, I can see how this verse applies to them. The beginning says, " Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge. I can see them crying this out to the Lord. I am crying it out for them in my prayers. I am begging God to have mercy on them. I am begging God to please not let Tony’s co-worker pass away. Please have mercy on him. Please don’t leave his kids without a dad and his wife without a husband. Please let my family member’s cancer be stage one and easily removable. Please have mercy on my friend’s husband and miraculously cure his eyesight. Please stop the seizures my friend’s brother is having, and please heal any damage that might be a result of the seizures. Please God, have mercy on my loved ones and me. Please God, have mercy on them and their loved ones.

The verse says, “For in you I take refuge.” To take refuge means to go to a safe place. When we are struggling, as so many of us are today, we can go to the Lord; He can be our safe place. He can be the place we go to, and we rest. The ending of the verse says, “I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.” When I hear this, I get two images. The first one is of a giant eagle. This eagle is taller than any person, but not so giant that we are tiny in comparison. This eagle is standing up tall and proud, and we are tucked under its giant eagle wing. It is as if he is hugging us, and we feel warm and safe there. The second image is us just falling asleep under the protection of His wings until the disaster has passed.

When something awful is happening in our lives, a lot of times we want to pretend it isn’t happening. Life is easier that way. We wish we could just stay in bed until the bad parts of our lives are over. Technically, we could do this, some people do this, and yet, I don’t think any of us would be happy with those results. Unfortunately, avoiding the disaster and trying to sleep it away will not change the fact that you are going through something really hard right now. I have a friend who is really struggling because her daughter is not talking to her, and her daughter is about to turn 18. Her daughter is going to graduate, and she doesn’t get to watch her walk across that stage. My friend does not even want to get out of bed in the morning some mornings, and who can blame her? I wouldn’t either. However, my friend does get up, and she does still do the things that are required of her. Not because she wants to and not because she has to, but because she has taken refuge in the Lord. She knows where her strength comes from, and no one can take that away from her. She is strong, and she knows she is a beloved daughter of God, and that makes all the difference in the world.

When we are going through a really difficult time, we can take refuge in God. We can hide under his wings, and He will protect us. I like the image I get when I hear this verse because we are asleep in the Father’s arms/wings and He is just holding us there until the disaster goes away. How great would that be? How great would it be to just hide away in a safe place until all this mess was over? While we can’t literally hide until the mess goes away, we can place our troubles in the hands of our Lord and then give Him permission to take care of them for us. We can hide in His shadow while we wait for the miracle that He has planned for our loved ones and for us.

We just have to hold on. We just have to turn towards the Lord instead of away from him when we need him. We just need to rest in his shadow and continue to say, “Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me.” If you are going through a disaster right now, I want you to know you are not alone. There are so many of us who are struggling right now. I also want you to know that I am praying for you and your family. I am praying God has mercy on you and your loved ones. I am praying you are able to find refuge in God our Savior. I am holding onto hope for you. Take refuge in the shadow of His wings until the disaster has passed. This disaster will pass, I promise you that. You will make it through this. God is there with you, even when you can’t feel Him. He is there, right there with you. Rest in Him!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each person listening to this episode today. Lord, we want to rest in you. Please help us. Lord, have mercy on our loved ones and on us. Please do this miracle for us. The one we keep asking for, the one we really, really, need right now. Yep, that one, the one that seems impossible. We know you are the God of the impossible. We know you are the Way-maker, and you make a way where there isn’t one. We know these miracles would be simple for you, and so we are begging for your mercy, Lord. Please help us. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to meeting you here again on Monday. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

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