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By Ginny Jensen

We have been sheltered in place for weeks; for some, it’s been months. Slowly the world is beginning to “re-open”. If your isolation is a physical location, you may be seeing the light at the far end of the tunnel. If you are like Hannah in social isolation, you don’t know when it will end.

Staying in isolation has its stressors. Stepping out of it will bring new stressors. Is it safe? What if there is a second wave? What effect will social distancing have on relationships? The questions, fears, and anxiety are as unique as each individual. In all of this, what does it mean to be sheltered?

Psalms 61:2b-4 combines the promise of God being our Refuge, our strength, as well as being sheltered under His wings.  God as our Refuge, hidden in the cleft of the rock, might be a more familiar image of God, reminding us of His power and control.

Looking closer at the image of being sheltered under His wings provides new insight. To understand it, we need to look at the relationship between a mother bird and her chicks. As babies, she protects them by literally putting them under her wings. The chick is just barely looking out from under its mother’s wing. The swan has the young bird resting on its mother’s back. The mother has her wings extended to shield her young. In both cases, the young birds are at perfect rest. They are calm and secure.

In the midst of the many unknowns, we can be totally at rest under His wing while claiming His strength as our Refuge.

What is it that you need today? The sense of His strength or the comfort of His gentle protective wings?

Ask for prayer here. 

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