THE NEST BENEATH HIS WINGS
Your dwelling place is enduring, and your nest is set in the cliff. Numbers 24:21
“I am rather glad my mother’s Nest is not set in a cliff.”
“Oh?”
“I don’t like high edges of things.”
His laughter filled the dawn of my day, sending light across the eastern sky. I wondered if it was His glory shining.
I took a sip of my coffee with vanilla nut creamer and just the right amount of cinnamon and nutmeg sprinkled on top, while cinnamon clove candles filled the air with comforts of fall in the midst of summer; their light dancing with my thoughts.
It occurred to me then that my mother’s Nest did seem to rise above the stress and cares of the world. I began musing out loud. “The moment her front door opened it was as if love poured out from inside right into my soul and nothing else mattered except being right there. Maybe it’s because the very door says ‘Welcome to My Nest’ or maybe it’s the way she has filled it with all things lovely and comforting. Perhaps it’s the fountain dancing on the small patio filling the air with sounds of flowing water while birds dance in its pool of refreshing. Or the many plants that provide a sense of seclusion and the chairs tucked amongst the vines and blooms that invite one to sit awhile and take deep breaths of restfulness.
“It may be the smell of freshly baked blueberry scones with icing drizzled just so over the tops. Or the bird nests nestled amongst much loved books and photos of loved ones—some who are now face to face with Him whom my soul longs for. Maybe it’s the way she hugs me when I arrive—as if she has been waiting for just this moment. It could be the iced tea poured in tall elegant glasses that eases away the dryness of the desert I left behind and seems to revive me from the inside out.”
I thought about how we sat sipping our tea as we settled in for sweet conversation and how it naturally turned to the Lord. My mother’s eyes filled with warmth as she spoke—His Word always seemed to be on her lips and as I listened my soul drank deeply from an unseen wellspring.
I recalled how her elderly lady friends would drop by and they each would say how they loved coming to visit my mother and hated to leave. “It’s heavenly,” they would say as they reluctantly left us to our visit.
I sat thinking about that. The “heavenly” wasn’t merely within those walls; it was everywhere my mother went. A smile touched my lips as understanding flooded my heart.
“That’s it. Isn’t it, Lord?”
“What?” He asked with eyes aflame.
I tilted my head to one side as I studied Him and then I said, “It’s Your ‘Ever Presentness’ that sets her apart, Your love pours out from her and gives refreshment to everyone she meets.
As I thought about the Nest where my mother lives, He took me to places in His Word that spoke of His wings. Why don’t you grab your Bible and a cup of coffee or a frosty glass of iced tea, kick off your shoes and join me in the Nest—it’s right in the center of the
Well of His Presence.
Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that hovers over its young, He spread His wings and caught them, He carried them on His pinions. Deuteronomy 32:11
“You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. Exodus 19:4
…the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge. Ruth 2:12
Hide me in the shadow of Your wings. Psalm 17:8
He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. Psalm 91:4
I sighed softly as I rested my chin on my knees, my inward gaze fixed on a place unseen.
“What are you thinking?” He asked.
“You know my thoughts before I do.”
“Yes. But tell Me anyway.”
“Well,” I began softly, “I was thinking about my mother in her Nest and Your wings providing a sheltering place…” I sat quietly, the words hopping about in my mind like the birds at the feeders on my mother’s patio. A poem began to emerge and I wrote it down.
THE NEST BENEATH HIS WINGS
“The Nest” it says upon the door
Amidst twisty twigs and vine
The door opens on its hinges wide
Invites me in to spend some time
Setting down the load I bore
I gladly walk inside
My burdens seem to drift away
On the wave of Calvary’s tide
I nestle in with tea in hand
My mother’s voice is heard
Her eyes dance with a fire lit
By her Savior’s every Word
As we share about our Lord
There comes a shadow’s sheltering
Tucked there in the cozy Nest
He covers us with His wings
His wings they draw us near to Him
A shelter from the world’s deluge
He keeps us safely underneath
A tender place of refuge
My mother spoke of trying days
She thought her soul was falling
But the Lord ever faithful
Caught her upon strong wings
When across her days
She sees a shadowing
Assure her of Your everness
Beneath your sheltering wing
Thank You, Lord, for my mother
By her love and friendship I am blessed
Keep Your wings ever round her
Sheltered safe within The Nest
My sweet friend, perhaps you can’t enjoy sweet fellowship with your mother for whatever reason. Be assured, if you know the Lord you can enjoy such sweet fellowship with Him. Read through the verses I listed earlier. Take them in. Then curl up in the Nest of His Presence beneath His sheltering wings.
What do you notice about His wings in the verses we read? Here are a few of the things I learned.
In His sovereignty He may “stir up” the nest but we can know He is with us. He spreads His wings like a covering, giving us shelter. We may feel we are falling and things are out of control, but He lifts us up on wings like Eagles and carries us. He saves us. He draws us near to Him. The wings of His Presence provide us a place of refuge—a hiding place. Like a shadow, He stretches over us as a shield.
Today, may you find rest in the shadow of the Almighty, beneath His wings.
An Original Conversations at the Well
© Copyright by Diana Morgan, July 14, 2012
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