God, my faithful... Chicken?
From February 16, 2010
Being called a “chicken” does not hold the greatest connotations in our American culture. A chicken can imply someone who is afraid, whimpy, a cop-out. “You chicken! You’re just too scared to… (insert remarks of jeering playground bully here).”
But did you realize that God refers to himself as a chicken in the Bible? That’s right, He’s not only called the lion, the lamb, a rock and a fortress, but a chicken!
Jesus in Matthew 23:37 laments, “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” (NKJV).
A hen. A chicken! Yet this chicken is protecting her young. She is a haven. A hiding place. A safety for all of us “chickens” in the world who are taking off scared from the attacks of Satan and sin, or “running around like a chicken with its head cut off” from all the stresses and duties of life – school, work, family, ministry responsibilities… (insert your stress here).
“Michelle, Michelle, how I often I wanted to gather you under my wings!” But am I willing? Do I trust Him? Will I let Him?
Psalm 36:7: “Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.”
So the next time you hear the hymn “Under His Wings,” I hope you remember God, my lion, my lamb, my faithful… chicken.
But did you realize that God refers to himself as a chicken in the Bible? That’s right, He’s not only called the lion, the lamb, a rock and a fortress, but a chicken!
Jesus in Matthew 23:37 laments, “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” (NKJV).
A hen. A chicken! Yet this chicken is protecting her young. She is a haven. A hiding place. A safety for all of us “chickens” in the world who are taking off scared from the attacks of Satan and sin, or “running around like a chicken with its head cut off” from all the stresses and duties of life – school, work, family, ministry responsibilities… (insert your stress here).
“Michelle, Michelle, how I often I wanted to gather you under my wings!” But am I willing? Do I trust Him? Will I let Him?
Psalm 36:7: “Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.”
So the next time you hear the hymn “Under His Wings,” I hope you remember God, my lion, my lamb, my faithful… chicken.
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