Dove vs. Giant...on my porch

This is one of those strange prophetic happenings that you could try to dismiss as a bizarre coincidence…but that would require more radical faith than believing that it did indeed mean something!

Last Wednesday a brown dove sat on my doorstep for about 3 hours!  I was leaving for a doctor’s appointment when I saw a basket on the front porch.  When I reached for the basket I saw a bird sitting on the threshold of the door.  My hand was less than a foot from it, and it just sat there staring at me.  I stood there for a while….feeling like this was important…it meant something, but what?!   It was moving slightly, wasn’t dead, just so calm.  My son yelled from the van, we needed to go, but I didn’t want to leave!  As we drove away I was aware of a knowing deep in me that the bird would be right there when we got home.

The appointment went long and almost 2 hours had passed when we drove back up our driveway.  The bird was in the same place!  The boys and I got out to look at it.  It just sat there calmly, unafraid.  I prayed, listened, thought, and talked with a friend….exploring the meaning of a bird sitting on my door frame.  God’s presence, peace that lingers….  A little while later, as I was making lunch, I felt that I should go check on the bird.  I looked out the window, not wanting to open the door in case he was still sitting there.  He was standing on the porch.  I went outside and stood watching him for a while longer, just standing there looking around, and then it flew off.  As he flew I realized that it was a dove, although darker in color than I am accustomed to seeing.  I looked it up online; it was a “mourning dove”.

A dove!  In scripture a dove represents the Holy Spirit.  I like how the dove than landed on Jesus at his baptism, “remained on him”.  How long did it remain there – the actual dove?  What if I was AS aware of God’s presence on me as Jesus was?!

This was on Wednesday, on Sunday I received the other part of this prophetic word for our household.  During worship I heard the Holy Spirit saying fortification and saw a picture of a walls being reinforced.  I felt that it was for Phil and I and our family in this season of needing great faith, facing fear and physical need.  I asked the Holy Spirit what this process looked like, and the image I received was of a cage door being opened and a bird flying out.  I realized that the dove had been sent to our door, it was a message of God sending us peace, the power of His presence to remain at our door as fortification.  Then I saw another image; as if I were standing on the sidewalk in front of our house, looking at the front door.  I saw the bird, small and calmly sitting on the threshold – but what stood out was this HUGE, tall, 8 feet or more figure with a long black coat standing on the sidewalk in front of the door with one foot on the step up to the porch.  The word FEAR was across his back.  I’ve seen this spirit before, FEAR, and it looked similar then only I could see that he carried a dagger.  But Sunday, his hand was inside the coat as if preparing to pull something out.  But this was as close as he could get, he was frozen there.

As I prayed and worshiped I was hit with the impact of this whole experience and the message to my heart.  Fear was a giant, dark, weapon bearing spirit intent on entering my home.  God’s response was to send a little brown dove to sit peacefully on my doorstep for hours.  Unafraid, un-intimidated, unmoving, beautiful, calm, peaceful.  The  comparison was appropriate, that’s what peace looks like; still and “small” but powerful enough to freeze and face down a giant.

Fear stands a few steps outside the door to my heart and mind frequently these days.  Sometimes due to the unanswered questions with my son's brain condition, or the bills that will begin to come in as a result of the surgery and hospitalization.  Sometimes the fear is related to the transitions coming at Grace Fellowship, within our family, or the financial questions that all this raises.  Sometimes it’s just fear of failing, of not being strong enough, or just the feeling of being totally overwhelmed and wondering how I’ll make it.  BUT peace is present within me and I’m embracing the discipline of looking at it and responding to it as God’s provision, His answer to the attack of fear.  I’m thinking about the posture of the bird and finding rest and calm reassurance in the peace that remains powerfully stationed on my threshold, facing fear on my behalf. 

 Peace and HOPE always win!