If you think this is a recipe for a new barbecue sauce for chicken wings … sorry to disappoint you!  Smile!

There is a story that has circulated for years, in varied forms about a mother hen who protected her young from a forest fire.  I looked up the story on the Internet and found that it has evolved from maybe something that did happen but is it true to its beginnings?  I don’t know but here is the story (edited by Connie!) …

After a forest fire, a forest ranger was going to assess the damage and found the charred remains of a chicken petrified in the ashes at the base of a tree.  Somewhat sickened by the sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick.  Suddenly several tiny chicks scurried out from under their dead mother’s wings.

The bulk of the mother’s body had covered the chicks from the fast-moving searing flames.  Though the heat was enough to consume her, it allowed her babies to find safety underneath her wings.  She had stayed with her young in the face of the rising flames.  Her dead carcass and fleeing chicks told the story well enough … she gave her life, her ultimate sacrifice, to save her young.

She could have flown away and saved herself had she only wanted to save herself but gathered her babies under her wings to save them.

So what do we learn about chicken wings and God from this illustration?  

It was another sleepless night for me and as I got up I was directed to Psalm 63:7, “Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.”

Psalm 36:7, “How excellent is Thy lovingkindness, O God!  Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Thy wings.”

Does God have wings?  Well, having never seen God upfront and in person, I can’t tell you what He looks like in that regard but I can tell you what the Bible says and it gives me GREAT comfort! 

Psalm 91:4, “He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge.”

Psalm 57:1, “Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by.”

Psalm 61:4b, “I will trust in the shelter of Your wings.”

These verses relate to the protection and shelter we can find in God.  We can run to Him when trouble chases us.  We may smell smoke, and we at times might be singed but we can TRUST in His intervention in our lives if we run to Him!

In returning to the above story there was one comment by an observer of free-range chickens.  Not all chicks run to their mothers in times of danger.  Some are either paralyzed in panic or try to find a way to save themselves but they end up being destroyed.  The mother hen cannot run around gathering them individually … they have to come to her.

There is a greater story here … it is the story of our God Who before time began made a way to save His own wandering children from destruction.  Look what Jesus said in Matthew 23:37, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!”

How, HOW can we be so hard-headed not to run to Jesus when troubles chase us?  HE is the only One who can save us!  Yes, in this life we WILL face hard times, trials, and tribulations and we know that we will all face death and die in this life … but through it all, we can run to Jesus for safety.

There is another verse that brings comfort … Malachi 4:2, “But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings …”.  I believe this is twofold… there IS healing for sick bodies, sick emotions, sick relationships, mental sickness … there IS healing in His wings!  But the greater healing is what He provides through His sacrifice on the cross … the healing of men’s souls!

Are you covered by His wings?  Read with me Ephesians 1:4-7, “… He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”

If you have NOT come to Christ and accepted His provision of salvation … do it NOW … don’t wait for the fire to come … be covered by His blood before destruction!

Pray with me now, “Dear Jesus, I believe what Your word says … I come to confess my sin and repent from my way of life.  Please cleanse me with Your blood, create in me a new heart, and may Your precious and holy life begin to flow to and through every part of my life.  I invite you to be my Savior and my Lord. Amen”