“Rest is found only in the shadow of the Father’s wing.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – March 10, 2026
Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young— a place near your altar, LORD Almighty, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house. Psalm 84:3-4a
Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty…He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge. Psalm 91:1, 4
As the winter days lengthen, my family has begun taking evening strolls in our neighbourhood to watch the sunset. Without fail, we are joined overhead by flocks of birds making their way home to nest. As night falls, the homing instinct kicks in, and they take to the sky, one and all, without hesitation, to rest from the day’s busy pursuits of food and twigs.
As I watched the flocks head home, it struck me that I too have a home to fly to at the end of the day, a place to rest from all the world’s troubles. I don’t mean my physical home, though I am certainly grateful to have it. But even with a shelter over our heads and all our bodies’ needs met, our souls can still feel homeless at times, like a bird without a nest. In those moments, there is but one place to fly. St Augustine put it so poignantly when he said, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you” (Confessions I.i.1). There is no true rest for my heart or yours apart from the ever-open arms of our Heavenly Father. If we feel restless, anxious, weary, we have only to run and hide away in the shadow of his wings.
This practice need not be reserved for our troubled moments, though. The invitation is always open, and indeed we would do well to follow the birds’ example and fly home to the Father at the end of each and every day. When you lay your head on your pillow at night, where do you look for your rest? Or what is robbing you of it? When I look for rest in a sense of the day’s accomplishments, or with others’ approval or satisfaction with me, or with the air-tightness of tomorrow’s plans, rest is nowhere to be found. Those ideals are shakable and demanding, and no place to lay one’s head. But when I lay all those burdens down and curl up in the shadow of my Father’s wings at the end of the day, trusting that I am right where I need to be, then and only then can I truly rest. If our homing instincts have grown a little rusty, we would do well to brush them up and learn once again to fly home to the one who promises, “Come unto me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Prayer
Lord God, my heart feels so often restless. Help me to hide in the shadow of your wings, like a child in a hideaway, and find my rest in you. Amen.
Application
As you come to the end of each day, visualize yourself laying down the day’s burdens and crawling up the Lord’s wings. Tell him anything that is robbing you of rest and ask him to grant you the rest he promises to his children.
Related Reading
Deuteronomy 32:11; Psalm 4:8, 63:7, 84:1-4; Matthew 23:37
Worship Resource
Rain for Roots: Bird Song
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