Rev. Richard Smith
| Hebrews 1:14 Are not all angels ministry spirits sent to serve…? Hebrews 13:1-2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by doing so some people have entertained angels without knowing it. |
Recently I was listening to my Amazon Music songs and one by Abba titled, I Have A Dream started playing. Among the words in that song are these…I believe in angels, something good in everything I see.
Immediately the words, I believe in angels, rooted themselves in my mind and heart. I began reflecting anew on the understanding of angels in our lives and am sharing it with you.
Truth is, there’s not a lot of discussion about angels in contemporary religion. Sure, during Advent-Christmas we focus intensely on the angel Gabriel appearing to Joseph (Matthew 1:20, 2:13, 2:19)) and to Mary (Luke 1:26-28); but, overall, we don’t make the reality of and the purpose of angels a central topic of our dialogues on faith and belief.
Let me state here that I do believe in angels! First of all, you can’t be a real student of Biblical truths without realizing that from page 1 to page 1281 of Holy Scripture, angels play a significant role in God’s activity in human lives. Secondly, in the New Testament the word for angels translates “messenger”; and none of us would question that God routinely sends messages our way, either to encourage us or to guide us.
Now, of course, we don’t need to think of angels as winged creatures soaring out of heaven into our earthly domain. Again, they are messengers and messengers, by God’s divine doing, can be in any form or vessel He chooses.
The key to recognizing angels in our lives is to pay attention to those times a person comes our way who provides just what we need…inspiration to hang in there; courage to take a needed stance; hope for a challenging time; wisdom for key decisions, etc.
Noted pastor, theologian Will Willimon writes: I believe in angels because I have seen God’s servants offering themselves in service to the living God! Willimon here highlights those people whose acts of service – with us and others – inspires us to our own deeper service commitment.
Another noted Christian thinker, Frederick Buechner, says: Angels are powerful spirits whom God sends into the world to encourage us that things will be alright and/or to give us the courage we need.
I also like this understanding of angels who come to us in our wilderness moments, our spiritually needful times: Our wilderness angels may resemble the middle-school teacher who believed in us when we couldn’t believe in ourselves. Or the coach who gave us a chance to play, even if we weren’t that good. Maybe one of your angels is a colleague who had your back during a rough time at work or a friend who listened to your fears and grief after a relationship ended. Sometimes our angels are simply the people who are willing to walk with us into the wilderness and deserts of our lives.
The bottom line…God regularly uses people to help us, to encourage us, to guide us, to support us. And typically, it’s only after we reflect back on their presence in our lives that we think, Wow! He/she was an angel for me in those moments! So, pay attention! Note those people who arrive just when you need their arrival! Thank God for them! And while they may not even see themselves as “ministry spirits” (Hebrews 1), you know they are!!!
So, who has come your way recently as one of God’s angels?
