I pulled on my waterproof jacket, pulled up the hood, and stepped outside on a brisk walk in the Colorado rain. The past eleven days in Colorado had shown me that spring here could mean eighty degrees one day and a forty-degree thunderstorm day the next. Somedays had both!
I trudged around the small lake behind the dorms, pausing now and then to watch a mama goose, daddy goose, and their three goslings. I couldn’t stay for too long though; daddy goose was warning me with frequent hisses to stay away from his babies.
On my second trip around the lake, I practiced reciting Psalm 91, one of my memory passages for while I’m here at Bible discipleship school. I recited about the God who is our refuge, who protects us, and whom we can know.
As I finished my walk, I came upon another mama goose and daddy goose. At first, I didn’t see any babies around, but daddy goose was eyeing me and hissing as though there were little goslings about. Maybe this mama goose has laid some eggs, I thought, noticing she was resting on the ground. But then I saw it – a little gosling poke its fluffy yellow head out from under mama’s wings.
As I walked away from the irritated daddy goose, I was struck by the verses I had just been reciting:
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!” For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper And from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. Psalm 91:1-4 (NASB95)
I had just seen a mama goose covering her babies from the rain with her wings, and it struck me that God does the same thing for His children. (No, God does not have literal wings; this is a metaphor!)
Psalm 91 is all about how our heavenly Father loves and protects His children! Throughout this Psalm, we see God described as a refuge, a fortress, trustworthy, a deliverer, faithful, a deliverer, one who answers, with us, rescuer, and Savior.
“He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. Psalm 91:15
As I think back to that mama goose covering her babies in the rain, I’m struck by the fact that she was with them in the storm. And our Father is with us in our storms. Can God remove us from the storms of life? Yes. But often instead of removing us from the storms, He weathers them with us. He uses the trials of life to grow our character, just as exercising, which is hard, grows our muscles. And He promises to use the trials in our lives for our good and His glory (Rom. 8:28).
The final thing I noticed while watching these geese was how the daddy goose always stands up and steps out toward potential threats. He is prepared to protect his babies, and he makes sure you know that!
In the same way, our Father is our protector.
You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of the arrow that flies by day; Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon. A thousand may fall at your side And ten thousand at your right hand, But it shall not approach you. You will only look on with your eyes And see the recompense of the wicked. For you have made the Lord, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place. No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent. For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, That you do not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and cobra, The young lion and the serpent you will trample down. Psalm 91:5-13
We can trust God to protect us. Does this psalm mean that we will never experience hardship? No. When we keep this psalm in context of the rest of Scripture, we know that trials and trouble will come to anyone in this fallen world (John 16:33; Rom. 8:22), and followers of Christ can expect persecution (2 Tim. 3:12). But we can have confidence that nothing gets to us that is not allowed by our heavenly Father. We can have confidence that He will guard our ways for all the days that He has ordained for us.
I was encouraged today by my encounter with the mama and daddy geese, reminded of my faithful God who is my refuge and my protector. May we always run to Him!
With love,
Kelsey
