Covered by His Feathers

Let us have a look at Psalm.91.4 and what truths we can find hidden in it. One of my favourite ways to look into it is by looking at the different translations of the verse. It helps us to extract the juices of what God is saying.

“He will cover you with His feathers. And under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. Psalm.91.4.niv
He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are you armour and protection. Psalm.91.4.nlt
He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. Psalm.91.4.nasb
With his feathers he will cover you, under his wings you will find safety. His truth is your shield and armour. Psalm.91.4.isv
[Then] He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust and find refuge; His truth and faithfulness are a shield and a buckler. Psalm.91.4.amp”

O the joys of being covered with the feathers of God! There can be no room for doubt and distrust when we find our place under His wings. He is so faithful to us. He knows what we need and all the promises He gives us are for our protection. It’s our protection from the doubts and fears that the enemy tries to hit us with.

“He who promised is faithful. ”

— Hebrews.10.23.esv

And again it says,

“Faithful is the One who calls you – and He will make it happen! ”

— 1.Thessalonians.5.24.tlv

These precious promises are our guarantee from heaven that God is with us and never leaves us. But He enables us to be changed, by His faithful promises, into His very image and nature.

“And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. ”

— 2.Peter.1.4.nlt

Every word that God speaks becomes our armour and it keeps us safe from the arrows of the enemy. We will be kept safe, because He keeps us safe in His rampart. A rampart was the defensive wall of a castle or walled city, typically made of stone. Jesus is our Rock and our rampart. He fortifies us and surrounds us with His wings like a shield of protection. God has given us His promises and each promise is like a feather in His wings. He will cover us with His feathers, with His precious promises.

Facing Fears

A couple of years ago I went skydiving. This was something God had been telling me to do for at least eight years. I had grown up with a huge fear of falling. While I loved heights and had no issues in planes, the moment I felt unsafe or unprotected, I would be filled with fear. It would physically disable me for a few minutes.

God has always taught me to face my fears and deal with them head on, in the same way that David did when he faced Goliath. So I have done specific things in the past. But when He told me I would jump out of a plane one day to face this fear of falling, I was mortified and immediately set my heart to push it as far into my future as I could imagine. He would bring it up in my heart every so often, gently reminding me that one day I would need to follow through. Over eight years later, I was finally able to step up and face my fear.

I was nervously excited as I prepared to get on the plane. I felt God smile when I found out the name of the plane was "Old Faithful" and had just clocked 12,000 flights and my instructor had recentlypassed 7,000 jumps. My fear stayed quiet until I was sitting in the doorway waiting for the plunge. Suddenly, I felt my fear trying to take over me. But it was too late. Here I was free falling with no way of excaping it. I could not get away or make any of the decisions. I was at the mercy of my instructor, his knowlege and his experience.

I knew God had me right where He wanted me. There was nothing I could do but trust. I could not change anything. I could not fix anything. All I could do is trust the one who I was attached to. I had to trust His knowledge of the equipment and the weather. I plunged down in freefall for the longest six seconds of my life. Everything in my that wanted to stay in control of my life was suddenly exposed. As I fell through the sky, I felt all the fear break off my life.

Sometimes we have to trust the one we are with. We do not always see where Jesus is, because He has got us covered, from behind. Nothing is going to escape Him. He sees everything and He knows what to do next. We only need to trust the One we are with. He always has our best interests at heart. So why do we worry?

Crossing Over

On Thursday the 9th of July 2015, I had a dream. In my dream, I was walking with a few people in company. There was a sense of urgency in the moment. Decisions needed to be made quickly with purpose and resolve. We needed to cross the river to get to an ancient castle that was on the other side. There was a pier kind of jetty that we had to walk out and get on a boat. I was wearing stiletto heels and had to tread carefully. I knew I had to tiptoe through so that my shoes didn't get stuck in the gaps on the jetty. When I got to the boat, I had to take off my heels so I could get on the boat to cross over to the other side. Once I was on the other side, I knew I had to leave the shoes behind. If I wanted to keep them, I would have to go back for them. Then I woke up.

There is a powerful message of what God is saying to those who have ears to hear it. In this dream, I find myself walking with others. These are my friends, family and those I have been walking through life with.

The shoes I am wearing are stiletto heels. Shoes are representative of ministry and high heels are speaking of a raised ministry, on a kind of platform. This speaks of having a raised influence. I had to walk carefully and tiptoe through so I didn't get stuck or lose my ministry. Yet, I had to leave my ministry when I went as far as the jetty could take me.

I had to step out of what I had and off of a grounded, stable, predictable life into a boat with less stability, ungrounded and unpredictable. It was only then that I could cross over.

The destination is a better place. It's a heavenly homeland, whose maker and builder is not of this world. There is an ancient castle which tells of an ancient kingdom where the Ancient of Days dwells.

We are living in such a key moment of history or HIS-story. A significant transition is happening and we each have a choice. We can keep walking in the way we have been. Or, we can leave the familiar behind and launch across the waters to an ancient kingdom.

In Hebrews chapter eleven, it says of the saints of old that they saw something by faith but weren't able to receive it.

“All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back.
But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”

— Hebrews.11.13-16.nlt

In my dream, I was so conscious of the choice to stay or go back. I knew there was a decision to be made. I knew I could have gone back, but I could not have both. I could either have the shoes or crossover and have the adventure of exploring the castle. That castle represents the heavenly homeland, the city God has prepared. A little bit further down in that chapter, it goes on to say this about these same saints of old.

“They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground. All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised.”

"Yet none of them received all that God had promised." Wow! They saw it, but could not receive it. Why is this? Actually, this is because God saw a much bigger picture. He looked through time and saw the future generations, He saw us.

“For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.”

— Hebrews.11.38-40.nlt

God was waiting for us to come and work together with them. This is how they will receive what they lived and hoped for. And the joy is that we also get to receive what they saw. They only receive it when we obtain it. We now live in a powerful time in history.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.”

— Hebrews.12.1-2.nlt

I love how this passage goes on to unpack our part in this whole picture. They heard what God was saying and responded to the call. They heard it by faith. They saw it by faith. And they responded by faith. Yet, even still God would not allow them to step in to the fullness. And here we are in a place where we have been given the extraordinary invitation to step in. Not all hear it, and not all who hear it will follow it. But the truth remains. God has given this exciting invitation to us to leave the familiar behind and to strip off every weight of care and worry, especially the distractions that slow us down and trip up our walk. Then we may follow Him into the exciting mystery of the unfamiliar.