WATCHWORD:
11 For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. 12 They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. Psalm 91:11-12
1 Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. 2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! 3 Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies. 4 Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery. 5 Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” Hebrews 13:1-5
Meditation:
I’m Not Crazy!
During the Prayers of Intercession in a recent Sunday worship service, I became aware that there was a presence on the pew, along with my two friends and I. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a figure sitting on the back of the pew, at the end of the aisle, just off my friend’s left shoulder. I turned my head toward the figure and it did not move, just sat there. I was aware that I was neither concerned, nor did I feel a threat, I simply accepted it and returned to prayers.
As the worship continued, that image stayed with me, and has continued to this day. Later, I looked more closely at the end of the pew and saw nothing. I can’t say there was any kind of message, except that it’s presence was definite and caused no anxiety, nor did it cause me to question that it was there. Towards the end of the service, I began to think of it as a natural, spiritual occurrence.
When our service concluded, I turned to my friend and said, “I’m Not Crazy, but I must tell you something that I can’t fully understand or explain.” I proceeded to describe to him exactly what I saw and thought.
My friend accepted what I told him and he speculated that it was an angel sent by his wife to check on how he was doing. His wife died some three years ago. Our friend sitting in the pew with us lost his wife five years ago. My own wife died nearly 7 years ago. All three of our loved ones were strong believers, with their presence still with us. An angel to visit? Yes. We all felt reassured.
I believe in angels. There are too many references to angels in the Bible not to have some assurance of their existence. I did some research on Angel visitations. You would be amazed at the number of experiences people have had, over the years. Angels that appear in human form, in a set of circumstances, an inspiring thought, the intersection of two unconnected events, that served an important purpose. Even an animal that seemed to intervene to solve a problem. Angels?
As a believer in Christ as Lord and Savior, I do not buy brush-off phrases that “it’s just a coincidence”, “you’re hallucinating”, or “you’re making stuff up”. I have had too many experiences of spirit interventions in my writings, my caregiving, events in my life, to fall into any of those traps. I believe the Holy Spirit dwells within me, inspires me and much of what I do. I believe the same thing applies to anyone who believes in the Lord.
We accept Scripture where angels appear in a variety of forms: Moses and the burning bush; Daniel and his visions; Mary and Joseph in Nazareth, John the Baptist and the message in the form of a dove, and, of course, Pentecost with the tongues of fire. Why not to us?
A visitation during a worship service? Why not? Why not draw on the reassurance of God’s presence with us in the form of that image, that figure, that angel. We are convinced of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, a gift by the Almighty, and in that knowledge, I’m quit at peace. I don’t need to define, explain, or in any way reconstruct an image. Whenever an angel visitation appears, whatever form, our role, as believers in Christ, is to accept it and feel the blessings of his graces. Amen.
Thinking of Angels:
The Dead
Dead are always looking down on us, they say, while we are putting on our shoes and making a sandwich, they’re looking down through the glass-bottom boats of heaven as they row themselves slowly through eternity.
They watch the tops of our heads moving below on earth, and when we lie down in the field or on a couch, drugged perhaps by the hum of a warm afternoon, they think we are looking back at them, which makes them lift their oars and fall silent, and wait, like parents, for us to close our eyes.
Billy Collins from Questions About Angels
Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, Your infinite love for us has chosen a blessed angel in heaven and appointed him our guide and guardian during this earthly pilgrimage. Accept our thanks for so great a blessing. Grant that we may experience the assistance of our holy protector in all our necessities. And you, holy, loving angel and guide, watch over us with all the tenderness of your angelic heart. Keep us always on the way that leads to heaven, and cease not to pray for us until we have attained our final destiny, eternal salvation. Then we shall love you for all eternity. We shall praise and glorify you unceasingly for all the good you have done for us while here on earth. Especially be a faithful and watchful protector of our children. Take our place, and supply what may be wanting to us through human frailty, short-sightedness, or sinful neglect. Lighten, O you perfect servants of God, our heavy task. Guide our children, that they may become like unto Jesus, may imitate Him faithfully, and persevere till they attain eternal life.
Amen
