This time of year, it is easy for the familiar Christmas carols to blend together. This new version of “Hark the Herald” has given me a jolt to listen more deeply to the lyrics of the songs I may be taking for granted.
SEE “HARK! The Herald Angels Sing” HERE
The lyric that has me raising my hands up in the air is: “RISEN WITH HEALING IN HIS WINGS!”
Hallelujah!
Especially at this time of the year, we can get stuck in our languishing and our busyness. Much of the work we have done for the year can feel like it is coming undone.
A dear friend of mine once showed me, quite practically, what it is to find healing, safety, and surrender in these beautiful wings.
She told me a story that gave me a new understanding. She asked me if she had told me about the shingles. At first, I was so concerned for her. Shingles are serious at any age! But she was talking about shingles on her roof. Apparently, a few had fallen off her roof in a passing summer storm.
Instead of getting wrapped in anxiety and frustrated with something else she has to handle, she simply said, “Well God, this one is on you.” She left a quick message with the handyman and then got on with life.
Here is what her response could have sounded like:
“Okay, here we go again. Let me get up there and check out what’s going on. Oh no, more rain is coming. It’s going to flood the attic. Let me get up there and start placing buckets. Oh no, the replacement shingles I have are not the right color. The HOA is going to have issues with this. How am I going to handle this? Maybe I should write a letter preemptively.”
Instead, she knew God would be there for her, so she invited Him in and set up the groundwork for Him to work His grace and love.
Her surrendered response reminded me of this passage I marked in Psalm 63 recently:
6 On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
7 Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
8 I cling to you;
your right hand upholds me.
In my friend’s posture of surrender, she walked a path of healing. She wasn’t a young bird flying the nest too early, tumbling dangerously toward the earth only to be in close proximity to predators. She was comfortably secure in a place of trust—a place of safety. Her posture, in the shadow of God’s wings, was childlike confidence.
How far have you flown from the shadow of the wings? What is making you feel anxious and exposed today? How might that change if you place yourself in a posture of care and safety?