AS A SMALL CHILD, I would often go to a "secret place" in my garden where I could be with God. It was a good place. There, I found peace, joy, comfort, safety, and freedom from fear of any kind. I always knew that God was looking after me, and I felt totally under His wing in those moments.
A little while ago, I watched in fascination a mother hen with her brood of six or seven chicks, and the illustration of being under God's wing was beautifully repainted in my thought. The mother hen nurtured her little ones with a continuous cluck, always communicating where to go and what to do at each step. The chick that had gone astray would locate the mother by her clucking, and if not, the mother hen would go look for the lost chick herself, find it, and then bring it back home. She also decided for her chicks when it was time to eat, and then actually broke down the food for them so that it was easier to digest. In all this, the work of the chicks was just to follow their mother's voice.
As I watched the mother hen and her chicks, it began to rain. Rain comes with its own set of conditions—chill, wetness, wind, maybe even thunder and lightning—all of which can be pretty scary and seemingly life-threatening for vulnerable little chicks. But by keeping attuned to the cluck of their mother hen, the chicks found cover under her wings. The chicks were totally covered with her feathers. Under her wings they were kept warm, safe, comforted, and free from any kind of fear or disturbance. The best part was the sense of trust shown by the chicks. They had complete trust in the mother hen, even though, from where they were, they did not even know what was going on outside.
