Imagine with me for a minute. A very mixed-up little mouse is wandering in a mown field. Farmer Westeringh has just chopped grass silage that morning. The little field mouse has just escaped the mower. A shadow circles over him! The mouse shakes; his hair stands on end. A hawk! Nervously, the mouse scampers, first to the left, then to the right. WhereÕs the hole? The mouseÕs heart flutters. The shadow still circles. Poor mouse! In a movement the hawk will dive down! The hawk will clench his talons into the mouseÕs tiny body and swoop him into the air. That poor little mouse will become dinner for the hawk.

How would you like to be that mouse? How would you like to have the mouseÕs feelings at those terrible moments? Children, we are not mice, but sometime in 1995 we may become scared like that mouse. Many of us worry about the future. We feel dangers: mean people, friends turned to enemies, broken dreams, no more money, losing a mom or dad or someone we love, sickness, but the thing we often fear most is having to die.

To many the year 1995 feels like a large bogeymanÕs shadow over them. Maybe you are also scared, or you have other fears youÕd be too embarrassed to admit. Yes, these dangers are real. We live in a sin-darkened world. Evil forces form a circle over us.

But, take another look in farmer WesteringhÕs farmyard! Four chicks and their mother hen peck through the gravel. They, too, feel the danger. The sense the hawkÕs encircling shadow. Now notice! The hen positions herself. The chicks cheep fearfully and skitter to their mother. They run under her wings! The hen fluffs her feathers over them. There is safety! The hawk canÕt get them now!

Having the chickÕs feelings would be better than the mouseÕs feelings, donÕt you think? O, I know youÕre going to say, ÒBut IÕm not a mouse or a chick,Ó yet the lesson is real. GodÕs Word teaches us about the covering of wings, not of a hen, but of the Almighty, the Most High God, our Lord! If you stayed up till 12:00 am, New YearÕs Day, and your parents did whatÕs a good thing to do, you heard your father read Psalm 91, It begins like this:

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress;

In Him will I trust (Psalm 91:1,2)

This Psalm comforts many believers because it promises another shadow for 1995, the AlmightyÕs shadow over all who trust in Him, who love Him, know His name, and call upon Him. The psalmist assures us:

He shall cover thee with His feathers,

and under His wings shalt thou trust;

His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Psalm 91:4)

Your father reads Psalm 91 to remind you where protection is. We donÕt know what 1995 will bring us or whether weÕll live until 1996. One thing I do know is where we must go. The dangers are real, but under the shadow of the LordÕs wings we are safe from any evil that would otherwise crush us. Make the Most High God your dwelling. His everlasting love and enduring faithfulness will give you rest. Boys and girls, ask for GodÕs work in your heart.