In His Care

Some years ago, I read an article in a National Geographic magazine that really touched me. After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began climbing a mountain to assess the damage of the fire. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched on the ground at the base of a tree. He was disturbed by the sight and took a stick, knocking over the body. When he did, three tiny chicks scurried out from under their dead mother's wings. This mother, aware of the impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of that tree and gathered them under her wings, somehow knowing that the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her little ones. When the blaze arrived, and she was singed by the heat of the flames, she remained where she was -- with her babies. Because she had been willing to die, those under her wings had lived.

This resonated with me on several levels: parental love and selflessness (am I that kind of parent?), and the obvious one, of course -- the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for each of us and the knowledge we have that if we come unto Him, He will take us under His wings, just as this mother bird did with her babies.

Yesterday in church as I played the organ, I found myself considering the words of "I Stand All Amazed" (pg. 193, Hymn book). The line that says "Oh, it is wonderful that He should care for me enough to die for me" stuck with me all day. Not many people care for me that much -- enough to die for me. But He does and He did and I'm full of gratitude for that willing sacrifice.

Psalms 91:4 says this: "He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust. . ." Indeed He has covered my sins with His sacrifice, and under His wings, I do trust.