Amy Grant had a hit song on the Christian pop charts from 1984 (wow, was it really THAT long ago) by the name of “Angels”*.
“God only knows the times my life was threatened just today
A reckless car ran out of gas before it ran my way
Near misses all around me, accidents unknown
Though I never see with human eyes the hands that lead me home
God, I know they're all around me all day and through the night
When the enemy is closing in I know sometimes they fight
To keep my feet from falling I'll never turn away
If you're asking what's protecting me then you're gonna hear me say … Angels watching over me …”
I believe in the existence of a spiritual realm. I believe in angels and demons. I don’t think of cherubs with little fluttering wings when I think of angels, but rather of mighty warriors, clad in golden breast plates and helmets, their loins girded with truth, tremendous shields to ward off attack and powerful swords to go on the offensive. If you’ve never read a Frank Peretti book, I highly recommend it.**
I recall a time about 25 yrs ago in northern New Jersey, when my wife and I were driving down a slick serpentine road after a snow storm. I took one of the curves a little too fast and skidded off into an open area on the right that was covered with roughly 4-5 inches of wet snow. We were stuck. Well, a tow truck came around the corner several minutes later, stopped and pulled us out of our dilemma. When I asked him how much I owed him, he said “nothing … you don’t know who I work for”, smiled and strode away to his truck. Within a matter of seconds he was down the road and out of sight. My wife and I were dumbfounded. As believers we knew exactly what he meant by “you don’t know who I work for”.
I don’t happen to believe in coincidence. I don’t believe in happenstance. I believe everything happens for a reason and I believe that if God has the hairs on our head counted (Matt 10:30), then it is not too farfetched to believe that He is aware of all of my comings and goings. I believe that God is in complete control of all things, which to me isn’t hard to believe if you believe He is the Creator of all things. That is why I say “God knows all about it”; because He does. Nothing escapes His ever watchful eye.
So if we believe all the above, is it really all that implausible that God would dispatch angels to do His bidding on our behalf as ministering spirits? Did not “ministering spirits” tend to Jesus after his 40 days & 40 nights in the wilderness after his encounter with Satan. (Matt 4:1-11)
You have to be careful not to accept one thing without the other. You cannot believe in God and not angels and you cannot believe in angels and not believe in God. They are eternally joined. God can surely exist without angels, but the reverse is not true. Yet many want to romanticize angels and make it seem like being spiritual is all you need; not at all. It is not religion and it is not solely spiritual. It is relational. You can consider yourself religious, go to church and not know the first thing about God or salvation. I know. I grew up in a Presbyterian Church with all the religious trappings and robes and said all the proper religious things that religious people say and yet nary a word about Christ’s death, His resurrection or the forgiveness provided by His sacrifice was uttered from the pulpit. Oh I was religious alright; sang every Sunday morning in the children’s choir for 10 yrs.
We must have a relationship with our Creator. We cannot get into heaven without receiving the forgiveness God offers to all through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ. If you disagree, go talk to God about it, because He wrote the book. Knowing “the big guy upstairs” isn’t going to cut in on the last day.
God will take care of you and will often times use very common looking folks to be His vessels.(Heb 13:2) Don’t you ever doubt His love and mercy. He WILL take good care of you because He knows all about your situation and ONE WORD FROM HIM CAN & WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING!!
WALK WITH THE KING TODAY AND BE A BLESSING!
* from album Straight Ahead, Sparrow Records; 1984.
** This Present Darkness & Piercing the Darkness, Frank Peretti; available on www.amazon.com.
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