Writer: Glenda Wolfe
Writer’s Ministry: Nominations Committee
Scripture verse: Matthew 1:18-25
Angels, what do we know about them? They appear many times in our Bible, and always with a message from God; messages of hope, protection, comfort, service, and praise to God, and sometimes to carry out his judgment. The noun angel means messenger. My story is about just such an angel.
Several years before my mother passed, she had a serious medical issue requiring hospitalization at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, TN. We lived in Pensacola, FL at the time. My sister called to say I needed to come because momma might not survive. We quickly tossed some things in the car and headed out for an 8-hour drive. I spent many of those hours on that interstate praying and asking God to send a miracle my mother’s way and praising his name because I knew for certain my mother was his most ardent believer.
When I arrived at the foot of my mother’s bed, I watched her as she slept, and then she slowly opened her eyes, and said, “When did you get here?”
I answered, “Just now; I’ve been worried about you.”
She said, “Oh, don’t worry about me, it’s not my time to go.”
I asked her if the doctor had been in to give her good news and she said, “No, not the doctor, an angel told me it’s not my time.”
I repeated, “An angel came to see you.”
Well, yes,” she said. “He’s still here.”
I was taken aback and asked if an angel was here with us right now?
“Yes, he’s standing right beside you, you don’t see him?”
“No, mom, I don’t see him.”
“Well, that’s OK, he’s given me his message from God and he’s leaving.”
Among my family and friends, this is a well-known story. I’ve never been sure in the years before her passing if she remembered as vividly as I did. In fact, in my mind’s eye, I’ve visualized that angel standing beside me at the foot of my momma’s bed, whom I never saw, but I knew it was God answering my prayers. Some people may say it was produced by all the medications to save her, but I believe, and she wholeheartedly believed. I believe this because there is biblical evidence of the presence of angels at so many life-changing events. Wouldn’t you have liked to have been with those shepherds to hear that heavenly choir of angels announce the birth of the greatest gift to humankind?
This Christmas as we celebrate his glorious birth with family, our church family, and friends, let us all remember, there is strong evidence angels will be in our midst!
Prayer: Lord God, as we enter this season of our celebration and remembrance of your miraculous birth, keep us mindful of all the ways you have to keep us close to you. Open our minds to be receptive to the blessings you give to us daily. Help us to listen to others and to be mindful to be kind to strangers because as Paul said in Hebrews when we show kindness and hospitality to strangers, we may be showing hospitality to angels among us. In your holy name, amen.
Reflection Questions:
- Have you ever been visited by an angel?
- How did it make you feel?
- Read Hebrews 13:2 and think about the possibility of angels among us.
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