Daily Devotional

Growing up in a cop’s home, protection was always a topic of conversation.  My Dad was the Chief of Detectives in Santa Cruz County. He had built a reputation of integrity and strong leadership which was balanced quite well with his warm and caring personality.  He was well-liked by his peers and adored by his two daughters.

My Dad was the head of the Sheriff’s Posse. He would lead the posse to search for lost children, fugitives in the mountains, etc. His life was built around protecting others and I admired him for this. Consequently, I did not resent my Dad’s strict guidelines and rules about where I could and could not go.  You can only imagine!  I knew he was protective because he loved us.

One day God provided me with a great glimpse of the power of protection from an unlikely source.   I always enjoyed going out each morning to feed Dad’s horse.  She was a beautiful American saddle bred horse with dreamy eyes.  As soon as she saw me coming, she galloped across the pasture and stomped into her stable to meet me at the feed trough.  What she and I did not know was that our mama bantam chicken had just hatched her eggs in the stable.  Understand this, a bantam chicken is only 1/5th the size of a normal chicken. They weigh about 1 to 3 lbs. at most.

As soon as our horse took her first stomp into the stable, the mama chicken attacked our horse with such a fury of protection! The next thing I see is the mama chicken chasing the horse around the pasture!   The horse was kicking and racing all around the pasture. The chicken mama kept screeching and flying in pursuit.  In chicken language I am sure she said, “Stay away from my babies!”. During all the commotion in the pasture I quickly relocated the baby chicks to a safer spot in the yard.  I had to hurry so the mama would not come after me! Her tiny body produced a powerful force of protection over her babies!

God has built into nature that protective instinct, especially in parents. It is a powerful force that mimics God’s nature.  Psalm 91 declares that God is the great protector of those He loves. He has the power and authority to back it up. No one gets to mess with God’s children. They will eventually face His righteous anger. We who are His are truly under His wings of protection.

PARENTS:

• Talk to your kids about the concept of “protection”.  Give examples in your family, such as, “Why I teach you to not step into the street.”, etc. 
• Talk about the “why” of protection.  Because you love them.
• Read Psalm 91 about God’s protection over us. 
• Explain how God has put into nature the attribute of protection—like mama chicken.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.