"I'm Covering You"

I don’t consider myself a perfectionist, but I can beat myself up pretty well when I don’t live up to my own expectations.

When I fall short by saying something I shouldn’t have said, or not saying something that I should have said, or not doing as much as I’d like to do, or doing it, but not up to par, then worry can linger longer than it should, leaving me pining over doing things more perfectly next time. So in one of these moments of worry and regret, I heard the Holy Spirit say from the Father, “I’m covering you.” 

I believe He wants to say it to you, too.

The Lord has a better way than worry and pining. His way is simply being yoked to Him and covered by Him. It feels so much lighter.

Living aware of His covering is much more joyful and free. It’s like someone holding an umbrella over us in the rain, or snuggling, sheltered under the softest blanket — protected from the elements of harm. Living His way means living like we are forgiven, accepted, and not only loved, but covered by that Love.

In God, in Love Himself, there is no fear — no fear of imperfection, no fear of not knowing yet and still needing to learn. There’s no fear of messing up and making a mistake. Living in Love is being at ease with learning through the process, even when the process looks a little messy, sometimes ugly, or even just wrong! Living in Love means there’s no fear of rejection from God, ourselves, or others.

When we mess up, God is not waiting to punish us and He doesn’t want us beating ourselves up, either. His desire is to perfect us - in His Love. 1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love” (ESV).

We aren’t completely perfected yet, so it’s okay for our expectations to include making mistakes. The process of learning is about being perfected and learning through our mistakes. With this perspective we can come out on the other side with more peace and greater understanding.

When we mess up, let’s not push away from the Lord, nor punish ourselves. Let’s hear His voice saying, Come to Me. I will cover you. Let Me perfect you in My Love. Let’s hear Him say, “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

Let’s remove any expectation of perfection (of never getting things wrong) off of our shoulders. Let’s receive the grace that God loves to give.

Receiving God’s grace will help us be more understanding not only of ourselves, but of others too. The more we learn to quickly say I’m sorry and receive grace from God who is Love, the more grace we’ll have to give. Let’s live in His covering, completely aware of His perfect love.

Questions to Ponder with the Holy Spirit:

1. Do I protect and defend myself with explanation, to keep from looking like I’ve made a mistake?

2. How much time do I spend in my mind going over things I’ve said or done?

3. What is the Lord saying to me about these things?

Scriptures to meditate on and memorize:

Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Isaiah 26:3 "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you."

Let’s Pray

Abba, Father,

Thank You for always being with me. Thank You for letting me know that You are covering me. I’m so thankful for the way You let me learn through my mistakes.

Your voice is always kind and honest, and I trust You to teach me all that I need to know.

Thank You for perfecting me in Your Love.

Help me to turn away from worry and regret and come into Your covering.

Thank You for casting out all fear.

Praise You Lord!

I love YOU.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.