Have you ever seen a broody momma hen in protection mode?
I used to raise free range chickens when I lived in Savannah, TN. Up to this point, we had never had chicks hatch or, to our knowledge, had a broody hen sitting on a clutch of eggs. One Sunday we came home from church, pulled in the driveway and up on the retaining wall I see something moving in the brush. I told my husband (ex), “I think that’s a baby chick!” He said, “No way! We aren’t missing any hens.”
For those who don’t know, when a hen goes broody they often find a hiding spot, lay a clutch of eggs and then she’ll sit on her eggs for weeks without getting up unless it’s very quick for water or food. So we went on the hunt for cute fuzzy chicks…sure enough there were 4 baby chicks hiding the brush. We looked at each other quite surprised. How in the world did she have these chicks right under our noses?
Well, she had kept them hidden, practically in plain sight mind you; tucked away from predators and even us humans. She painstakingly sat on her nest day in and day out keeping her eggs nice and toasty and dry. She covered her delicate eggs with her bosom. Then when they hatched she covered them with her wings and kept them fed and, somehow, kept them quiet.
Have you ever tried to keep a restless child quiet in church? LOL! One could probably learn a thing or 2 from a momma hen in how she is able to keep 4 baby chicks quiet so that nobody hears them LOL.
I was reminded how God shelters us under His wings, day in and day out, shielding us from predators. We can trust that He is taking care of us. His angels protect us every single day from things that could be thrown at us; there’s no telling what is around us that we don’t even know about.
This momma hen knew what was out there and protected her babies from the big bad snake and the hunting hawk by holding them tight under her. God is the same way with us. He locks us under His bosom; holding us in so tight from the enemies hunting for us, especially when we are most vulnerable. We can surely find comfort under His enormous wings!
