Day 4 | When Covering Becomes Control

What if what you’ve been calling covering has actually been control? And instead of being strengthened, you’ve been restricted and stressed all the way out!?

Heavenly Father, we come before You with gratitude and reverence, leaning on You for Your continued grace and mercy, clarity and truth. Where we have misunderstood covering, correct us, Father. Where we have been influenced in ways that pulled us away from You, realign us, God. Heal every place where trust was broken, please Jesus, and restore our ability to discern what is truly from You. Let Your Holy Spirit lead us into truth, and free us from anything that is not of You. In Jesus name, Amen. 

Covering. Control. There is a line. And it matters. It must be clearly recognised. 

Because if we are not careful, that line can become blurred, confusing, and create spaces where control is accepted as covering, and growth is stifled.

So from the get-go, let’s be clear on a few things:

Covering protects. Control restricts.

Covering guides. Control dominates.

Covering points you to God. Control positions itself in place of God.

And the difference is not always obvious at first. There are people who present themselves well, speak convincingly, and position themselves as Christians, yet take advantage of a sincere desire in others to serve their God. Have mercy.

“Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord.” Jeremiah 23:1 (KJV).

Saints of God, the more you live, the more you learn. For real!

We just gave the people scenario. But there are environments where everything sounds right on the surface. There is structure. There is leadership. There are instructions. But over time, something begins to feel off. Growth slows. Questions are discouraged. Decisions feel monitored rather than guided.

And slowly, what was introduced as covering begins to feel like pressure.

Scripture makes it clear in Matthew 20:25–26 (KJV), “Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them… But it shall not be so among you…” 

In other words, leadership in the Kingdom of God is not meant to control people. It is not built on domination. It is built on service - lived out, not just spoken.

So when covering begins to look like control, something has shifted away from what God intended. And this is not to discourage accountability. In fact, I strongly believe that there should be respect, and members of a church should be answerable to leadership. But here’s the thing: it must remain within the right boundaries.

Let’s look at this more closely.

In 2 Corinthians 1:24 (KJV), the Word of God tells us, “Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy…” That is the role of those who support you spiritually. Not to rule their faith. Not to dictate their every move. But to help them grow, to strengthen their joy, and to point them back to God.

Anything outside of that begins to cross the line into control.

And this is where many have experienced what we call church hurt.

Not because they did not receive covering, guidance, and the love they needed, but because their expectations were misguided, they were negatively influenced, or they placed themselves above the work they were called to do for the Lord.

Truth be told, there are situations where people were told not to question. Where decisions were made for them instead of with them. Where fear was used to keep them in place.

And over time, what should have been protection became restriction.

But Scripture never supports that kind of covering. That is why we all must study the Word of God for ourselves. And if you hear something here or in church or on social media and you have to raise your eyebrows, take out your Bible and check it out!

In Galatians 5:1 (KJV), it says, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free…” True covering does not remove our freedom in Christ. It does not bind us. It does not silence our relationship with God.

Rather, true covering strengthens our ability to walk in truth.

There is also a low-key way control shows up. Not always loud. Not always forceful. 

Sometimes it appears as constant dependence. You feel like you cannot move without checking in. You hesitate to make decisions. You second-guess what you hear from God because you’ve been conditioned to rely on someone else’s voice first. 

And without realising it, our growth becomes limited. Because control keeps us in place. 

But we rebuke that in Jesus Name. Because what are we promoting here? True covering, which prepares us to grow and move forward.

In Colossians 2:18–19 (KJV), it warns about being “vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding the Head…” which is Christ. When anything begins to take the place of Christ as the source, it disconnects us from where our strength actually comes from.

And that is where the imbalance begins.

This is why discernment is so important. Not every structure is healthy. Not every voice is aligned. Not every environment that speaks about covering is operating in truth.

But this is also where healing has to take place. Again, I encourage us to stop pointing fingers at others and look inward, do the work in us, so that we would be better children of the Living God. 

Be healed in the name of Jesus. Because when control has been experienced, it can distort how we see covering altogether. We begin to withdraw. We resist guidance. We close off. Not because covering is wrong, but because what we experienced was not covering. 

And if that is not addressed, it can push us away from the very support God may be trying to place in our lives.

Hosea 6:1 (KJV), “Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.”

Jeremiah 30:17 (KJV), “For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord…”

So self-examination is necessary. A pouring out of our hearts to God is necessary. He is standing by to heal our broken hearts, the church hurt, the backsliders, and the discouraged.

And once that healing begins, clarity returns, and we are able to see rightly again.

We have to separate the two clearly. Control or covering. 

Remember: Control is about power. Covering is about purpose. Control limits you. Covering strengthens you. Control replaces God’s Voice. Covering directs us back to Him.

Family, once that becomes clear, we are no longer bound by what was misrepresented. We are free to recognise what is truly from God… covering, and what is not… control. 

Click here for the full Live Empowerment Session: https://www.youtube.com/live/cM6ytusQp9M?si=c_rgbHFEVSOOgSzf