Do You Need to Feel Sheltered Today?

Friend, if you need to feel cared for, protected, and sheltered today, I have a story and a word of encouragement for you.

So far this summer, early mornings (as in 6 am) here in Arizona remain cool enough for sipping coffee on the patio. If only we were still welcome out there.

One morning last month, within seconds of me settling into my swivel-rocker patio chair with my cup of steaming brew, a huffy hummingbird buzzed me from a distance. When I didn’t budge from my perch, her helicopter wings whirled as she flew in under the pergola. She flapped and squealed at me a mere foot away from my face.

Her exit flight pattern led me to gaze up into our eaves. There, an extension cord served as the horizontal branch for a compact cup of a nest. That’s where Mama Hummingbird landed…in a nest carefully constructed of scavenged twigs, dried grasses, and spun spider silk threads to bind it together. A cushy place protected by a wall on one side and a roof-hangover on top.

For the next four weeks or so hubby and I observed from a distance the way the mama hummingbird kept watch and stood guard, protecting her eggs and subsequently the two hatched babies from potential threats. We watched (from inside the house) as she provided for them beak-to-beak, giving them what they needed to survive and thrive on their own.

(Sorry for the poor quality on the photos below. To appease the mama, I took them from inside the house.)

Watching those fledglings grow up over the edge of the nest, their eyes on Mama and their beaks open for nourishment, reminded me that you and I have not been left to fend for ourselves. Our heavenly Father waits for us to look to Him to meet our needs.

Health challenges, family drama, caregiving, media bombardment, desperate loneliness, financial upheaval, surprising goodbyes, crises across the globe, job losses, and more. The struggle is real. And too often our default is weariness and feeling defeated. The truth is, we don’t have to live overwhelmed or floundering in fear.

We have a mighty God. A loving Father watches over us. An attentive Father stands with us. We can cling to our faith in a powerful God, our Father, take cover in His shadow and live sheltered.

Here’s the hope we cling to . . . God the Almighty offers you and I rest in the midst of whatever storm we face.

Let’s take steps toward rest today, sheltered in His shadow.

Embrace life as God’s beloved child.  The Holy God, the Creator and sustainer of all, is your divine Father.

“Yet to all who did receive Him [Jesus],
to those who believed in His [Jesus’] name,
He gave the right to become children of God.”
John 1:12

Take every thought captive and renew your mind.

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,
and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
2 Corinthians 10:5

Cast your anxiety on your heavenly Father, who loves you with an everlasting love.

“Cast all your anxiety on Him [God] because He [God] cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:7

Pray with me?

Father God, thank you for making a way for me to have relationship with you as your child. Thank you for loving me and providing for me in ways I can’t fathom or don’t even recognize. I give You my cares [name each one] with confident trust in You. Shelter me in the shadow of Your great love. In Jesus’ name, amen.

NOTE: I’m excited to announce that I have a NEW website full of resources for you. I’d love it if you’d check it out.