I am not a protective mother. Living in Third World countries, my children were encouraged to eat and drink everything, that being part of the international experience. They were not taken often to the doctor, nor did I hover over them with an umbrella to protect them from the rain. By raising my children in Central America, this made me a bad mother. I soon realized that if you are hot (which we most always were), and then get wet, you get very ill and then die! Yes, that’s right. You become paralyzed on one side of your body, your face droops and you eventually pass on. I figured at one time, someone happened to have a stroke while in the rain, and forever more the people were superstitious. While I was not overly protective, we did have rules and boundaries in our home, and my children felt protected and cherished. One of my favorite Scripture verses is Psalm 51:1, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” The implication here is that there is a place of safety for those who choose to dwell there. The concept of dwelling is synonymous with the concept of obeying or remaining, as in John 15:10, where it says, ‘If you obey my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” Obedience to God positions us under God’s umbrella; in the shadow of the Almighty. When we are living in obedience, no harm can come upon us unless it falls into God’s plan somehow. We see this with Jesus. We read in John 6:38 that his sole purpose in coming to earth was to do the will of his Father. Because he remained obedient, no threats or attempts to kill him succeeded until the time chosen by God, and then it was to achieve God’s purpose and bring glory to Him. The same is true of us. If we obey his commands and follow his leading in our lives, we are not immune from trials and trouble, but they will not be able to defeat us. We will possess a God-given power to overcome them and God will work his will in our lives. This is backed up in Jeremiah 7:23 where it says, “Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you so that it may go well with you.” Not only is there safety under God’s umbrella but we can rest there. There is security in knowing God is in control. We can rest in God’s promises and hand all our fears over to him. The symbol of a mother hen with her chicks also speaks of God’s umbrella of protection over His people. “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. (Matthew 23:37–38). My children are moving on with their lives now and making their own decisions. How I long to gather them under my wings. If they will stay with me, I will protect them. That is how God often feels about me. I know I stray out from under his wings. Yet, He wants to protect me and love on me, to cover me from so many unnecessary harms. There is a place of safety and shelter if we choose to obey and stay in his will. And the wonderful thing about God is: even if we stray from under His wings, they are always outstretched, waiting for us to run back into his embrace. For that, I am thankful. May we dwell in the shelter of the Most High and rest in the shadow of the Almighty!