Umbrellas, Shadows, and Safe Hands

With the abundance of rain these days, I have been grateful for my umbrella.  Being under the umbrella allowed me to stay dry and be sheltered from the showers.  The umbrella even helped protect me from some of the stronger breezes.  As long as I stayed underneath the boundaries of its protection, the umbrella was able to provide the services I needed.  If I had left the umbrella in the car or decided not to use it, I would have paid the consequences and been soaking wet in no time.

God also offers his protection when the storms in life come.  Time and time again, God reminds us of how He wants to offer refuge in the shadow of His wings.  That protection is available when we are willing to stay close to Him, within His shadow.  When we venture outside those limits we are taking on more of the storm solo than God intended.  Jesus reminded us that when we are in God’s protective hands, no one can snatch us away. 

Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings

Psalm 17:8

How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

Psalm 36:7

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.

Psalm 57:1

Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

Psalm 63:7

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

Psalm 91:1

I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand— I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”

Isaiah 51:16

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

John 10: 28, 29