Feathers

Jeremiah 32:17‭-‬21‭, ‬27 NIV

"Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. You show love to thousands but bring the punishment for the parents’ sins into the laps of their children after them. Great and mighty God, whose name is the Lord Almighty, great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds. Your eyes are open to the ways of all mankind; you reward each person according to their conduct and as their deeds deserve. You performed signs and wonders in Egypt and have continued them to this day, in Israel and among all mankind, and have gained the renown that is still yours. You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror.

“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?"

Song: Lord do it for me by Zacardi Cortez

Happy Seventh Day of Thanks Everyone!

Today I give thanks for feathers! Yes, you read that right. Feathers.

Earlier in the year, a friend gifted me with a book by Karen Wheaton called “Watching the Road: Praying Your Prodigal Home.” In the book, the author details her fight for her prodigal daughter to finally come back home. She is blatantly honest about the wait and everything a believer goes through while they wait for breakthrough. Karen Wheaton’s youngest daughter was married with several kids and in full time ministry over the arts department of their church and just decided one day that she would abandon her husband and children and the ministry without cause. It was a complete and utter shock to everyone and broke her mother’s heart completely. Karen her oldest daughter, and an inner circle of intercessors set out to pray and war in the spirit for her youngest daughter’s soul until she came home and rededicated herself back to God and her family. It was a rough road for Karen to fight for her daughter’s soul but she was determined not to give up no matter how long it took.

Her story resounded with me. Just as she had been fighting for her daughter for a long period of time. I had spent the last seventeen years fighting for Lilah’s soul. I too had a rough journey of pain and suffering as I fought for Lilah’s healing and deliverance. Just as Karen saw her daughter spiritually locked in a prison gate and guarded by a demon. I too had seen images of Lilah locked behind prison doors as I interceded for her. Just as Karen had experienced the situation get worse as she prayed, I too had experienced Lilah’s health and her mind spiral into dark places and get worse, the more I prayed and fasted.

In one of the chapters of the book, Karen details how she was crying out to God asking when the warfare for her daughter to come home would end. She asked God how hard was it to get her daughter out of the prison in which she was locked. While Karen was on her mountain of prayer, God showed her a white feather and told her that it, the feather, was the “tool” He would use to defeat the enemy. The feather would be His weapon of choice to fight her battle. God clarified that the battle was a light thing, such as a feather for Him, and that there was nothingtoo hard for him.

Reading the book gave me so much hope. Many of the scriptures that Karen was praying and meditating on for her daughter were the same scriptures that the Lord had given me years prior to pray for Lilah. God was using the book to confirm for me that my current battle for Lilah’s healing and her mind was just as light for Him as well, despite the pain and suffering and my fatigue in the fight. Another reason this book was hitting home for me was because I was in the throes of a spiritual battle for Lilah’s mind and it didn’t look as if there was any light at the end of the tunnel.

About two months prior to me reading this book, my mother passed away. Since Lilah and my mother were close, she had a very hard time processing my mother’s death. Grief completely overwhelmed Lilah. At the same time, my daughter was dealing with a horrible matron and bus driver that I believe were demonic and sent by the devil himself to terrorize her while she was on their bus. It took me months to get her off of their bus and because she was so disgusted by how they treated her she would no longer get on her school bus. For several weeks, I watched Lilah have severe separation anxiety and panic attacks. I had to shift my schedule to make the three-hour round-trip trek to and from her school in the morning. I was frustrated because Lilah was never taught to accept the “lies” of the enemy. No matter how much I prayed, it seemed like nothing was breaking the fear and anxiety that had overtaken her.

I had a heart to heart with God and cried asking, “how much more disappointment and heartache do I have to experience not seeing things break? When is the supernatural deliverance coming? I’m holding on with everything I have and I don’t know how much more of the pain and heartache of this I can take. Where are you God?” The next day as I was walking across the bridge to Harlem to run an errand, I looked down and a feather was right before my feet. In all my heartache and brokenness, I had to smile because I knew what that feather meant and why God had sent it singularly to my feet. (I actually had to walk back home before I got on the bridge because I forgot something. If I had come on the bridge without having gone back home, the feather probably would not have been there with the level of wind that was occurring at that moment.) It was a confirmation that the battle was the Lord’s and that He was coming to rescue me. The tool (feather) which God was going to use to defeat my enemy had been enacted.

The next morning, Lilah woke up and said “Ready for school bus.” I don't know if she realized that she was getting a new matron and driver. I got her ready and took her downstairs. She sang a song and patiently waited for the bus saying that she was ready to go to school. The bus came and as smooth as a breeze, she got on her bus. After three weeks of watching her have panic attacks, severe separation anxiety, overwhelming grief, and buckle under the attacks of the enemy, Lilah conquered every one of her fears and got on her bus.

Just like that!

I cried so hard.

All it took was a feather.

God was moving and I just had to keep pressing through, knowing that God would not fail. God can’t lie. God keeps His promises. God can be trusted.

On four different occasions throughout this year, God brought other white feathers before my feet. Sometimes, they came in the darkest moments of the battle. Sometimes, they came right before a battle just to remind me that no matter how bad the fight would get, God was still there fighting and the situation wasn’t too hard for Him.

This year, God added the feather to our repertoire of insider communication codes and I am always so thankful when He gives one to me. It reminds me that He is stepping into the situation. He won’t lose the battle. He won’t fail. He doesn’t lie. He can be trusted and He keeps His Promises.

Today as I give thanks for feathers that come as a reminder that God will defeat our enemies, I ask that you donate, https://www.a21.org/content/donate/grlpa, to one of my favorite organizations, Abolish Slavery in the 21st Century, A21, https://www.a21.org/. For the last fifteen years, this organization has been rescuing victims of sex trafficking from all across the world, giving them shelter, therapy, care and restoring them back to their families and the world.

Love Ya,

Have A Great Day of Thanks!