Years ago, there was a television program called “Candid Camera.” In one of the scenes, a very large and dangerous looking truck driver, who was about 50 years old was asked, “if you could select your age, what would it be?” He was silent. Was he thinking, maybe 65, so he could trade in the Kenworth for a four-wheeler? Perhaps he was thinking 18, which would give him the chance to go back in time and re-make his decisions. Finally he said, “I’d like to be three.” He was asked why three and replied, “because when you are three you do not have any responsibility.”
Do you remember those carefree days? When you are three, if your family is good, life is good. You can go to bed, and you do not have a worry. No need to worry about a new roof on the house. You need not worry about the tingling in your legs, or wrestle with next month’s mortgage payment. No need to worry about the strange noise coming from the transmission of the car. You snuggle deliciously in your bed at night falling into a restful night of sleep.
Why? Because you are learning to trust. Your parents, in whom you trust, have all that figured out and you need not worry. You live in a perfect world. Now that I have lived through my adult life, I understand how much my parents struggled so I could go to sleep in peace. Adults need to be sheltered, warmed and embraced, but not all are. Some have been betrayed and they struggle through the days and through the nights. They struggle with everything I have mentioned, and the list can be very long. Some are strung as tight as a piano string, especially in the day we are living in.
With these thoughts in mind, I read in Psalm 91, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” Note then the words the Psalmist uses to describe in whom he trusts. He is called, “my refuge, my fortress, My God in whom I trust; He covers me with His wings. It is under those wings that I seek refuge and He becomes a shield and bulwark.”
When once hiking into Ptarmigan tunnels in Glacier Park, I heard the screech of the eagle. I stopped to locate it and then watch through my binoculars. The eagle’s nest was high in a rocky craig. As she settled into that refuge, I could see her eaglets flutter under her wings. I will never forget that scene of safety. The storms could roll in from over Swiftcurrent pass, the wind could howl and lightning flash, but those little fledglings were safe, under her wings.
Have you felt that safety and security from God? All of us as adults have felt the power of the storms of life. We have stood by and helplessly watched a mate, or a child suffer. We have felt the crush of the financial markets, and relational failure. If we stand there alone, we may be crushed. We need help when the storms of unexpected crisis hit us. Have you felt the safety and security of those wings?
I must admit that bad things do happen, and they come uninvited to all of us. Life seems so unfair at times. I face the impossible and I feel so helpless and alone, and yes, I feel forsaken. I have attempted to do my best, pay my tithe, be a good helpmeet, raise my children, and then, unexpected and uninvited the storm hits. How many times in my pastoral career have I sat with those who are feeling the weight and violence of the storm. We ask, “what happened to the wings?” Can you get cancer while under those wings? Can you experience violence while under those wings? In the midst of the storm, we cry out, “where are the wings?”
I have chosen to place both feet on the teachings and example given to us in the Bible. I read carefully what the Apostle Paul had to say to Timothy: “Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier…I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal…”.
He writes later to Timothy, “But you, be sober in all things and endure hardship.”
So what is the writer of Psalm 91 meaning when he says, “because you have made the Lord your refuge no evil shall befall you.”? Can I take that at face value? Some people say that the Psalm is merely Hebrew poetry. If we believe this Psalm is merely poetic and has no real meaning then on what and in whom do I place my trust? It is not realistic to face life and believe that it will be trouble free. To live a successful life, and face all life will throw at us, is not realistic thinking. Show me any successful person, Biblical or non-Biblical, that has lived a trouble-free life. It is not realistic.
Being “under His wings” is not an insurance policy that spares me from all disaster. What it does guarantee is that I’m in God’s hands as I live life. I am not an object of fate drifting on the sea of uncertainty. The enemy is not in control of my life. Life assaults me. I get banged around and I get bruised. I feel at times that I am neglected and I’m all alone. I get wounded and I hurt, emotionally and physically. However, to remove ourselves from the protective care of God’s grace is suicide. He will cover you with his pinions and under his wings you will find refuge.
C.S. Lewis, the British scholar in Literature, has a way with words that grab my emotions. He had married late in life and was married but a few years when his wife died of cancer. After his wife’s death, he wrote a book entitled A Grief Observed. In the book, he addresses the subject of grief and suffering in the Christian life. “If the children of God were always saved from floods like Noah and his family, if every time somebody pointed a gun at a Christian the gun turned to salami, if we really had a money back guarantee against hatred, disease, and acts of terror, all we would need is an insurance policy, not faith. For security we could hire a private agent.” Then he asks, what would happen to people’s integrity if becoming a believer really did give you blanket protection against poverty, accidents, and the wages of sin?”
Under His wings I find security. Under His wings I can find love. Under His wings I find God. What material wealth can you place on that?
