A Feather in Your Hand

A feather in your cap?

The term a feather in your cap is an English [idiom] idiomatic phrase believed to have derived from the general custom in some cultures of a warrior adding a new feather to their headgear for every enemy slain.[1][2] Or in other cases from the custom of establishing the success of a hunter as being the first to bag a game bird by plucking off the feathers of that prey and placing them in the hat band.[1][3] The phrase today has altered to a more peaceful allusion, where it is used to refer to any laudable success or achievement by an individual that may help that person in the future.[4]

Let the feather in your hand remind you of 3 things:

1) You are valued greatly.

Matthew 10:29 NIV

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.

Matthew 10:30 NIV

And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Matthew 10:29–31 NIV

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Sparrow (Heb. tzippor , from a root signifying to "chirp" or "twitter," which appears to be a phonetic representation of the call-note of any passerine (sparrow-like) bird). This Hebrew word occurs upwards of forty times in the Old Testament. In all passages except two it is rendered by the Authorized Version indifferently "bird" or "fowl." and denotes any small bird, both of the sparrow-like species and such as the starling, chaffinch, greenfinch, linnet, goldfinch, corn-bunting, pipits, blackbird, song-thrush, etc. In (Psalms 84:3) and Psal 102:7 It is rendered "sparrow." The Greek stauthion (Authorized Version "sparrow") occurs twice in the New Testament, (Matthew 10:29; Luke 12:6,7) (The birds above mentioned are found in great numbers in Palestine and are of very little value, selling for the merest trifle and are thus strikingly used by our Saviour, (Matthew 10:20) as an illustration of our Father's care for his children.

2) You are protected.

Psalm 91:1 NLT

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

Psalm 91:2 NLT

This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.

Psalm 91:3 NLT

For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease.

Psalm 91:4 NLT

He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.

Jesus lamented over Jerusalem:

Matthew 23:37 NLT

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.

3) You are empowered for purpose.

Isaiah 40:28 NKJV

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.

Isaiah 40:29 NKJV

He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.

Isaiah 40:30 NKJV

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall,

Isaiah 40:31 NKJV

But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.