The Rock-Solid Shadow by: Cindy Browning

 

I have a bird. Her name is Shirley, as in, “Shirley, goodness and mercy shall

Shirley

follow me all the days of my life.” She is fairly large, and black, and Kent and I glued her feet down on the top of the column under our front porch. Okay, she is made of resin, but I like to pretend she is real. I always like to see if guests notice her. She is an attention-getter. 

This spring, a wonderful thing happened to her. Two very small birds, House Finches, built their house right under her. They tediously flew back and forth with little bits and pieces of twigs to weave the sweetest little nest right in her shadow. I don’t know why they chose that spot. Perhaps they knew that Shirley would provide protection for their nest and for the eggs they soon would lay.

I looked forward to the day when I would see little baby bird heads sticking up out of that nest. In due time, sure enough, babies were born.

 One of the grandest sights was seeing Mama and Daddy Finch feeding the babies. Daddy stood right on top of Shirley, supervising as Mama dropped the tiniest bits of insects into those stretching and squawking mouths. Aren’t birds smart?

Watching Shirley and the finches reminded me of the beautiful promises given to us in the Book of Psalms.

Psalm 91:4

Like a bird protecting its young, God will cover you with his feathers; He
    will protect you under His great wings.

    His faithfulness will form a shield around you, a rock-solid wall to protect you.

 

Psalm 36:7

How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!

And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.

Needless to say, I have never seen God, but I don’t think that He is covered in feathers or has wings. I believe that the writer of this psalm is using familiar imagery for us to better understand God’s Holy Faithfulness.

Recently, Christie Hale (one of our Northside women) shared an incident that happened in her backyard. She and her family have some hens. A snake got under one of the hens as she was sitting on her eggs. She never moved. All that mattered to her was protecting what belonged to her.

When evil slithers about to devour us, surely goodness and mercy will surround us. We are not promised that evil will not show up. We are not promised that bad things are not going to happen to us. But those who belong to God are promised that He will shield us with His faithfulness. Why? To protect us. We may not know it or feel it. After all, those chicks inside the shells had no idea a snake was nearby. Mama did. God knows what threatens us too. Trust the covering of His impenetrable Shadow. It is rock-solid!

The Eternality of God by: Bethany Hawkins

Each month, our Northside women meet in small groups for prayer, fellowship, and to read and discuss a devotion written by our writers' group. This year we're studying the book of Exodus as we delve into the character of God. The following is from our April devotion:

Exodus 3:15 – God also said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: The Lord,
the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent
me to you. This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.”

We in America do not have a long history. We will be celebrating our 250^th birthday on July 4, 2026, making us mere children among many of our fellow countries. The first White people to develop a settlement on our shores did so in 1607. For comparison, here are some of the things that happened in world history before 1607:

•          By 1607, King Henry VIII in England had been dead for over fifty years.
•          The Magna Carta, one of the bases of the U.S. Constitution, was signed in 1215.
•          Indigenous Peoples in what is currently New Mexico started building permanent structures in 800-900 AD.
•         Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD destroying the city of Pompeii.
•          Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC.
•          The Pyramids of Giza date back to 3200 BC.

Exodus, believed to be written between 1445 and 1405 BC, is a narrative history which details the story of the Israelites along with Genesis, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Moses is believed to be the author of all five books. The book not only documents the history of the Israelites but illustrates the eternality of God. The history of mankind is long, but the history of God is innumerable.

Eternality is not a word we use much in casual conversation. It means the state of being eternal. Synonyms include everlasting, lasting, permanent, enduring. There is no beginning in eternality. It means something had always been and always will be. God is the only thing in this world that is truly eternal.

In Exodus 3, when God calls Moses to lead His people out of Egypt, God reminds Moses of His covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3: "The Lord said to Abraham: Go out from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you in contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

God also made a covenant with Isaac: "There was another famine in the land in addition to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines and Gerar. The Lord appeared to him and said, 'Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land that I tell you about; stay in this land as an alien, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm that oath that I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky. I will give your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because Abraham listened to me and kept my mandate, my commands, my statues, and my instructions.' So Isaac settled in Gerar." (Gen. 26:1-6)

God reminded Jacob of His covenant with his father and grandfather in Genesis 28:13-31. God speaks to Jacob in a dream. He says, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land on which you are lying. Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the people around will be blessed through you and your offspring. Look, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you.”

In Exodus 3, God reminds Moses of these covenants three times. He is showing Moses His perspective is everlasting. He was I AM; He is I AM; He will always be I AM. God is also showing Moses his omnipotence by acknowledging these covenants made 400 years before were still not fulfilled. He wanted to use Moses to fulfill His promise of a sacred land for the Israelites. Moses ultimately would not be allowed to enter the Promised Land but did get a glimpse of the land that was part of the covenant with Abraham. (Deuteronomy 34) God reminded Moses that he was seeing part of the covenant with Abraham coming to fruition. God is faithful and true, but on His time, not ours.

Think about what you are waiting for God to do right now. Pray and thank Him for His faithfulness over the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. Thank him for the blessings He has given you before and will give to you in the future.