Under His Wings You May Seek Refuge by Kathi Macias

“…under His wings you may seek refuge” (Ps. 91:4, NASB, emphasis added).

            I have always described myself as a “word person,” and I imagine many of you have done the same. It is an awesome privilege to use words to proclaim God’s love to a world so desperately in need of that love, and we would be wise to do so humbly and prayerfully.

            My pastor is teaching a series on relationships, and one of the words that come up again and again is “submit,” a word that often causes us—particularly women—to cringe. The reason, of course, is that the word has not always been used wisely, but rather it has been misused to justify abuse of various kinds.

            I once heard the term “spiritual abuse” defined as the “misuse of spiritual authority [whether by a clergyman, spouse, parent, Sunday school teacher, etc.] in such a way as to come over people and add to their burdens instead of coming underneath and helping to lift them.” People will always resist submitting to any sort of authority that is abusive because submission is meant to be voluntary, and who volunteers to be abused? But when spiritual authority is used correctly—as Jesus modeled it, in the form of servant leadership—wise and discerning people will line up to submit to the protection that authority affords.

            When we submit to God, as the Scriptures continually advise and admonish us to do, we “come underneath in a safe place” and find the protection and refuge of His covering, as the Israelites did when they observed the first Passover in the land of Egypt just prior to their deliverance. Psalm 91 tells us that we “may” seek that refuge, meaning God has given us permission to do so. That permission came with a great price: the shedding of the blood of the true Passover Lamb, Yeshua. We, as lovers of words, must commit ourselves to alerting as many as will listen that permission has been granted them by the Most High to submit to God and come underneath in the only safe place—under His wings, where we can hear His heartbeat and walk accordingly.

            If we do nothing else in this lifetime than proclaim God’s permission to submit to His mercy and love and protection, we will have fulfilled our purpose and will hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant….”