Day One
Are You Covered?
Day One
Job 1:8–10 (NIV)
When I think about being covered by God, my mind goes back to 16 September 2023. I was in Cape Town, South Africa, bodyboarding in the ocean with two friends. The currents felt quite strong, but because this was my first time swimming and bodyboarding in the ocean, I assumed this was normal.
Things quickly took a turn when I was caught in a rip current that began dragging me further and further out to sea. I genuinely thought my life was over.
I remember calling out to God as the current continued to carry me away. The shore looked increasingly small and distant. My heart was racing and, amongst everything else, I could only think that a shark was moments away from eating me!
I can laugh about parts of the experience now, but afterwards I struggled to sleep for days because I realised just how easily I could have lost my life. It didn't help when a friend's mother said, “Are you crazy? South Africa has just experienced one of its worst storms in years. People have died today!”
Those words stayed with me.
Yet I also remember what happened when I cried out to God. It felt as though, in a moment, another current counteracted the one pulling me out and carried me back towards the shore.
That is one of the most dramatic examples in my life, but there are countless other moments I can look back on and recognise that God was protecting me, even when I didn't realise I needed protecting.
Interestingly, in Job 1 it is Satan himself who acknowledges this reality concerning Job:
“Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?”
There was protection surrounding Job that Job himself could not see.
Throughout Scripture, we see this picture of God's covering. On the night of the Passover, God instructed the Israelites to place the blood of a lamb on their doorframes:
Exodus 12:13 (NIV)
The New Testament ultimately points us to Jesus Christ, whom John declares to be “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
Our confidence is not that Christians will never experience difficulty, suffering or loss. As we will discover through Job, being covered by God does not mean being exempt from trouble. Rather, our confidence is that our lives belong to Christ, our salvation is secure in Him, and nothing reaches us outside the sovereign knowledge of God.
Around an hour before we entered 2026, at our Crossover Service, I shared a prophetic exhortation entitled “You Are Covered,” taken from Psalm 91.
As we begin these seven days of prayer and fasting, I want to remind you of that word again. Take some time today to read the whole of Psalm 91, but particularly hold on to these words:
Psalm 91:3–4 (NIV)
There may have been dangers you saw coming, and there may have been dangers you never even knew existed. Yet through it all, God has been faithful.
Reflection
Think back over your life. Can you identify a moment when you know God was covering and protecting you?
Take a moment to thank Him, not only for the protection you have seen, but also for the protection you may never know about.
Prayer
Father, thank You for Your covering and protection over my life. Thank You for the dangers You have brought me through and for the dangers I never even knew were before me. When attacks, traps and difficulties arise, help me to remember that You are my refuge and that my life is in Your hands. Forgive me for the times I have taken Your protection for granted. As I begin this fast, help me to trust You more deeply and rest beneath the covering of Your presence. Thank You that Your faithfulness is my shield and that my life belongs to Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
8 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. 10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.” |
When I think about being covered by God, my mind goes back to 16 September 2023. I was in Cape Town, South Africa, bodyboarding in the ocean with two friends. The currents felt quite strong, but because this was my first time swimming and bodyboarding in the ocean, I assumed this was normal.
Things quickly took a turn when I was caught in a rip current that began dragging me further and further out to sea. I genuinely thought my life was over.
I remember calling out to God as the current continued to carry me away. The shore looked increasingly small and distant. My heart was racing and, amongst everything else, I could only think that a shark was moments away from eating me!
I can laugh about parts of the experience now, but afterwards I struggled to sleep for days because I realised just how easily I could have lost my life. It didn't help when a friend's mother said, “Are you crazy? South Africa has just experienced one of its worst storms in years. People have died today!”
Those words stayed with me.
Yet I also remember what happened when I cried out to God. It felt as though, in a moment, another current counteracted the one pulling me out and carried me back towards the shore.
That is one of the most dramatic examples in my life, but there are countless other moments I can look back on and recognise that God was protecting me, even when I didn't realise I needed protecting.
Interestingly, in Job 1 it is Satan himself who acknowledges this reality concerning Job:
“Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?”
There was protection surrounding Job that Job himself could not see.
Throughout Scripture, we see this picture of God's covering. On the night of the Passover, God instructed the Israelites to place the blood of a lamb on their doorframes:
Exodus 12:13 (NIV)
“The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.” |
The New Testament ultimately points us to Jesus Christ, whom John declares to be “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
Our confidence is not that Christians will never experience difficulty, suffering or loss. As we will discover through Job, being covered by God does not mean being exempt from trouble. Rather, our confidence is that our lives belong to Christ, our salvation is secure in Him, and nothing reaches us outside the sovereign knowledge of God.
Around an hour before we entered 2026, at our Crossover Service, I shared a prophetic exhortation entitled “You Are Covered,” taken from Psalm 91.
As we begin these seven days of prayer and fasting, I want to remind you of that word again. Take some time today to read the whole of Psalm 91, but particularly hold on to these words:
Psalm 91:3–4 (NIV)
3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. |
There may have been dangers you saw coming, and there may have been dangers you never even knew existed. Yet through it all, God has been faithful.
Reflection
Think back over your life. Can you identify a moment when you know God was covering and protecting you?
Take a moment to thank Him, not only for the protection you have seen, but also for the protection you may never know about.
Prayer
Father, thank You for Your covering and protection over my life. Thank You for the dangers You have brought me through and for the dangers I never even knew were before me. When attacks, traps and difficulties arise, help me to remember that You are my refuge and that my life is in Your hands. Forgive me for the times I have taken Your protection for granted. As I begin this fast, help me to trust You more deeply and rest beneath the covering of Your presence. Thank You that Your faithfulness is my shield and that my life belongs to Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen.