Hidden Expansion as You Rest Under His Shadow

The Lord has been speaking to me recently with encouraging words and visions. He showed me that many of His people are battle weary as the days have rolled into weeks and now months as the intense pressure of spiritual warfare has increased around us. Some have felt as if they are caught in an underground bunker waiting for the battle to be over so they can surface for fresh air and sunshine. Others feel like they are marching through mud, and the mud has seemed to only get deeper and thicker as they marched.

As He showed me these pictures I felt His heart of compassion for His people and His longing to pull us in close to His heart during this time. Psalm 91 has been a comforting place for me in this season and others, but recently I felt He spoke it again in a fresh way to bring a new release of HOPE, REST, and RENEWED PURPOSE.

"Whoever dwells in the secret place of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart." Ps. 91:1-4

I felt the Lord showed me that the thing many people need right now is REST. This is not primarily a physical need for rest, though that may be a need for some, but it is a mental and spiritual rest that is lacking. God is releasing a supernatural REST for those who will seek and trust Him in this hour. The first verse of Psalm 91 promises that "Whoever dwells in the secret place of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." When you "dwell" somewhere, you stay there without leaving. It becomes your abiding place, your habitation, or home.

It is important that we learn the lesson of "REST" as we will need it for the assignments He has for us in the coming days. TRUST is the key to REST. There are some who have never been able to rest because they have not learned how to trust. God is working deeply in hearts in this season to reveal and heal those places that have hindered trust.

Again, God has a supernatural place of REST for us in this season if we will trust in Him. As I pondered this place of rest, He then showed me another picture or perspective. I had often seen this Psalm 91 passage as God covering me with His wings of protection, like a mother hen covers her chicks. We are told in verse 4, "He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge...". This is a good place and a place of covering and protection. But, I had always seen this as a small, tight place, where all I would do was huddle under His feathers.

HIDDEN EXPANSION

But then as I pondered this picture, I heard the Father speak out of Isaiah 54, "Enlarge the place of your tent!" As He said these words, I saw His wings expand and stretch out to be very large. The spread of His wings kept getting larger and wider. As His wings grew larger, His shadow grew larger as well. Underneath the shadow of His wings there were many people bustling about with great excitement. There was such a sense of JOY and GREAT PURPOSE, and clearly, these were people with a mission. I also heard Him say, "Stretch your tent curtains wide!" and "Don't hold back! Under My wings is a place of HIDDEN EXPANSION for you. Though you have not been able to clearly see what I am doing, I have been at work behind the scenes to accomplish and fulfill My words in you."

As the Father spoke these words emphatically, I knew that He was underlining the visions that He had given to His people earlier in former seasons. Many have felt derailed from vision by the trials that have happened, but I hear the Lord saying, "I am turning derailment and destruction into powerful times of INCUBATION and NURTURING of my seeds of promise. My BIRTHING will take place!

"Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?" says the Lord. "Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery?" says your God. Isaiah 66:9

LESSONS FROM ABRAM AND SARAI

The Lord then directed me to the story of Abram and Sarai who later became Abraham and Sarah. These two were pregnant with promise. God had spoken to them these words, "I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." Gn. 12:2-3

We know the familiar story and that Abram and Sarai became weary in waiting for the realization of God's promises. They were becoming older in years and Sarai was getting well past the time when she could bear a child. Sarai made the unfortunate error based in faulty thinking when she spoke these words to Abram, "The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her." Gn. 16:2

Flesh attempted to hijack the promise of God with Sarai's words "perhaps I can build". Ishmael was conceived and born because Abram and Sarai lost hope in waiting on the birthing of God's promises. This is the warning to us today. We are not to seek to build or birth in the flesh, but come into alignment with the timing and rhythm of Heaven in this hour to fulfill God's plans and purposes.

Some who have already entered into birthing "Ishmael's" will need to enter into a time of repentance and cleansing. These will then drink from the wells of refreshing and renewed hope and purpose in the place of REST once again. God will renew His covenant with them and breathe fresh life and fire into the promises He has spoken to them.

BIRTH IS IMMINENT!

The enemy has taunted, "Reduction, reduction", but God is saying, "It is a time of GREAT PRODUCTION, for I have been nurturing and brooding over the embryo of My spoken visions and dreams within you. I have covered you with My feathers and as you place your TRUST in Me, you will see the fulfillment of what I have promised to birth in and around you. The enemy has sought to make withdrawals, but I am making deep, lasting, deposits within you. My birthing in you is imminent!

Do not hold back, My child! It is time to ENLARGE as you REST. Under My wings is a place of HIDDEN EXPANSION for you. This is your "molting" process, a shedding of the old and a receiving of the new. Just as I knit you together in your mother's womb, I am knitting together all things pertaining to you. I am giving you a broad place to work, play, run, and rest under the shelter of My wings. TRUST IN ME."

I believe God will be releasing incredible waves of refreshing and joy in the healing waters over His people in the coming days as we enter into this place of supernatural REST in Him under His shadow. As we experience His Divine covering and nurturing of His seeds of promise within us, together we will move forward to effectively enlarge His Kingdom around us.