“How often have I longed to gather your children, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you refused!”
Luke 13:31-35
O that hymn, that beckons us into a deeper understanding and acceptance of the Master’s love! “How I have longed to draw you to Myself. As when a hen covers her brood.” The imagery of a hen gathering and covering her brood is comforting and reassuring especially if you have actually witnessed it. At the sight of a predator, the hen would quickly draw to herself each chick and cover them all under her wings. Similarly, the Master longs to draw us to Himself.
“But you went darting like chicks in a storm…”
The reality of what occurs when Herod and his messengers present in our lives! The disappointments, struggles and battles creating fear, doubt, anxiety, distractions, pain, rejection, hopelessness, and depression. We sometimes lose our focus, and we scamper seeking refuge elsewhere, rather than accepting the love and support the Master offers; standing firm in faith, and with the assurance that the Master has us covered, as we strive to continue what we are called to do, ‘today, tomorrow and the next day.’