God's got you Covered

Remember last week when I wrote about the importance of protecting our children just as the geese on our pond protect their goslings? Here’s a story from my day of goose-watching that I didn’t share in my previous article.

The geese were on the far side of the pond – Alice sat still, the babies played, and George stood on alert. From the side, another goose started to walk in closer… closer… a little too close for George’s comfort. He lowered his head, spread his wings, and honked.

George’s defensive maneuvers, however, didn’t deter the predatory goose. He honked back and continued coming in closer to the babies.

Mama Alice may have looked as if she was relaxing as she sat by the side of the water. But I quickly realized her position was every bit as defensive as George’s. As the predatory goose moved closer, Alice made a single noise and the babies came running to her. Within seconds every single baby had crawled under the safety of her wings.

The baby goslings now secure, George’s focused remained entirely on the predatory goose. After some honks of reproach and some fierce wing flapping, George successfully fought off the predator.

As the brief battle played out, Alice continued to sit still. She looked quite wide as the protected babies hid safely in her care under each wing. The family was safe.

These images came back to my mind this week when I came across the following verse in the Bible.

Last week I talked about how we as parents need to protect our children just as George and Alice do their little goslings. As a parent, it’s an easy analogy to make and understand. Most of us would protect our children until our dying breath!

But the title for Psalm 91 in my Bible says “The Protection of the Most High.” God extends more protection to us – His children – than we ever could our own children.

The question for us then is this…

Are we willing to run under His wings when He calls us? Or do we think we’re strong enough to fight off the predators on our own?

Remember what I said about we would be willing to protect our children until our dying breath? You know what – God did protect us until His dying breath. Or actually, not until His dying breath but with His dying breath.

With Jesus’ death, our protection from sin, death, and an eternity separated from God became a reality. Again, though, are we willing to run under that protection? Or when the moment of judgment comes, do we think we can fight that battle on our own?