A Swing Set Story and Finding Refuge

Swinging and singing with my sisters on our backyard swing set was one of my favorite pastimes growing up. We loved to swing! We swung on the tire swing hung in our big sugar maple, on the grapevines in the woods behind the house, and most often on the backyard swing sets.

We had two swing sets, one a tall, brown, and lightly rusted set with two flat seat swings and one that was comparatively shorter and colorful with a variety of swings. The short one was our favorite, and the three youngest of us who swung together could swing on it at the same time. It had a horse swing that was missing a chunk from its plastic noggin inviting the bees to nest inside from which we shied away and two flat seat swings that were the prime real estate plus a two-seater glider. We shared turns on the best swings and took turns picking songs to sing (“Winging My Way Back Home” was a favorite). We lived in the country nestled between two hillsides, and we sang so loudly that our strong voices carried through the hollow to the ears of the neighbors.

I would seldom swing alone or on the taller swing set. One day I took a notion to do both. I got in a swing on the taller set facing the woods, and as best as I recall I had barely started to swing when I suddenly fell backwards out of the swing, tearing the skin on one of my ring fingers on the chain as I went to the ground. I was otherwise unhurt.

I did not know how I had fallen. I got back on the swing, and in almost no time I fell out backwards a second time, re-raking my finger in the very same spot! I did not understand it. It was not as if I didn’t know how to hang onto the chains or stay in the seat. Goodness, we girls would swing confidently as high as we could, sometimes until the chains went slack from the height, and sometimes we would try to touch the leaves of low-hanging branches with our toes. It was unlikely I would fall out once, and to fall out twice made no sense.

We deal with these things in life. Bad things sometimes crop up with no warning or explanation. Sometimes we have not gotten over one trial when we get socked with another one, dumped out of our swing backwards all over again, possibly tearing in the same place over again.

During these times we can choose to take refuge in the shelter God’s word and character provides. The psalmist David calls God his shield in Psalm 3:3. In Psalm 91, he says the Lord is his refuge and his fortress. All three of those reference God as the source of safety and protection. My pastor has often shared with our congregation the affirming scriptures of 1 Peter 5:7, “…casting all your care upon him; for He careth for you,” and Philippians 4:19, “But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Time and time again I’ve also heard him declare Psalm 34:19, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all,” putting extra emphasis on the word “all.” These and many other verses remind us of who we are in Christ, who He is, and His covenant with us. Understanding these things gives us a foundation of truth to steady us through the trials of life.

Psalm 27:13 says, “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” God helps us overcome our trials, and we do see His goodness again. After the double-dump swing set misadventure, I spent many more days swinging and singing in the sunshine. To a much heavier place on the scale of trial and triumph, consider Job. After he endured catastrophic devastation and suffering, the last chapter in Job marks the end of his calamities and his restoration. Job 42:10 says, “And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.” Let your heart be lifted up, knowing the Lord is faithful. He will take care of you.

Leah Hicks 7-31-2024