My husband and I were out driving, and all of a sudden angels popped into my mind. Why? I have no idea, actually. But since then random angel-thoughts keep popping into my head, so I know the Lord is trying to tell me something.
In the car that evening I was remembering back to the day of our twin son Bryan’s memorial service when all of a sudden our 2 year-old son Matthew pointed up to a corner of our living room ceiling and said, “Look, mommy – angels!” I looked up to where he was pointing, but of course saw nothing. He then repeated it a few minutes later. Was it his imagination, or did he truly see angels? And why did this pop into my mind tonight?
Fast-forward to 3 days later. I attended a women’s Christmas party, where we bring an ornament to exchange blindly with someone in the group. We’re to really pray about what to bring. When we arrive we place our gifts randomly on a table in the middle of one room, and then go to a separate room for fellowship.
When it was time for us all to move into the room where the gifts were kept my eyes were drawn to a certain Christmas bag. Funny, because typically that doesn’t happen to me – I normally really don’t care what present I receive. However I was in the last group to choose, and as others were picking their gifts I was starting to fret – was someone going to take the bag I felt drawn to? Weird that I was thinking that way!
Well no one did choose that bag – why? Because that was the gift I was supposed to receive. What was the ornament? Angel wings!!! The enclosed note said, “Walked past this several times and felt like this was the one to gift. Hope it speaks to you…”
Whoa, Lord, what are you trying to show me? What are you trying to teach me? Open my ears to hear your voice!
So another couple of days passed, and the angel-thoughts have just kept popping back into my mind. As I got ready for church today I was praying that perhaps this morning clarity would come.
As I was listening to our pastor’s sermon which focused on Jesus being our Prince of Peace, suddenly a picture formed in my mind. What was it? A little manger. And shining above that little manger was a bright star. That star was what helped guide the Wise Men to Bethlehem to witness the birth of our Savior, little baby Jesus – the king of Kings, and lord of Lords – who willingly chose to come down to earth to provide a way of salvation to those who believe in Him (Matt. 2:1-2).
I’ve also been reminded of the shepherds that night, who lived out in the fields caring for their flocks. How alone they must have felt at times. Yet God in His mercy sees all off of us – no matter where we are. And he saw those shepherds and loved them enough to declare the birth of Jesus far off in the fields to them. How?
An ANGEL of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the ANGEL said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:9-11) Emphasis mine.
Angels… I have no doubt that they are all around us. They are mentioned close to 300 times in the Bible! Angels are God’s messengers – they come to do the bidding of our Father in heaven.
For our son Matthew years ago? Yes, I do believe he saw angels. And I think those angels somehow spoke to him, giving him peace in his confusion about his little brother Bryan’s passing.
And me? Well all my random angel-thoughts have reminded me that God has His angels watching over me too, just like those lonely shepherds. You see, this time of the year isn’t always my favorite time of the year because I watch so many laughing happy families and sometimes grieve and mourn about “what could have been.” I take my eyes off of Jesus.
So this Christmas, let’s choose to praise Him! For Jesus came to earth 2000 years ago as a small baby, but when He returns, He will be returning in glory – hallelujah!
The God Of All Comfort 