Sometime back in the eighties, I heard a woman speak at a ladies’ day conference in Denham Springs, LA.  I believed her story at the time, and it made an impression on me.  Whether it was just an illustration or a true-life incident, the impact remains to this day.

            At the time, her favorite verse was from Psalm 91:4:  “He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you will find refuge.”  She had learned that pinions were the stiff flying feathers of a wing, and it gave her a warm feeling to know God cared for her that much.

            As her story goes, she said that one day, she and her son were traveling a highway in Kentucky when raindrops began to fall.  Soon, the rain developed into driving sheets of the wet stuff.  In their little Volkswagen, they felt the car begin to hydroplane.

            Beside an 18-wheeler, the car suddenly turned perpendicular to the truck and continued to slide sideways.  Panicked, she tried to pray, tried to quote this verse, but all she could say was “feathers, feathers, feathers!”

            She and her son survived.  The car righted itself and slowed until they could return to the right lane behind the big truck.  She credits their survival to answered prayer, albeit a strange one.

            Another story along this line comes from the National Geographic magazine.  It tells of a ranger, after a great fire, finding a burned bird perched on the ground at the base of a tree.  When he toppled the bird, there chirped three tiny baby birds, alive, under their dead mother’s wings.  Because the mother bird had been willing to die, those under the cover of her wings were alive. 

            This verse about God’s wings of protection has become one of my favorites, and I have it printed on a card near my computer, where I can see it each day.  I remember this verse when I feel depressed, frightened, or alone.  It reminds me of how much I am loved and cared for by my heavenly Father.  I want my family members to know about that assurance as well.

            This verse can change our lives.  Even if we cannot recall the entire verse, just saying “feathers, feathers, feathers” could keep us feeling secure.

            Those heavenly wings, though stiff with chastening at times, make us know for certain that there will be refuge for us as we try, not just to believe, but to follow the Lord.

 

Joyce Broyles is a retired High School Librarian and lives and worships in Jennings, LA.