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Thinking
of Angels
Devotions
by
Renée Miller
It
seems that angels do not serve one purpose alone. We may picture
them as a heavenly host, blowing trumpets in praise of God, but
their roles throughout Scripture are as varied as the circumstances
in which they appear. The following devotions describe angels
who
surprise us, give us direction, help us rejoice and minister to
our needs, even when we’re unaware that they are around.
And
[Gabriel] came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one!
The Lord is with you." —Luke 1:28
There
she was. A young peasant girl, shut off from the fame and fortune
of the world, doing the regular monotonous chores that any adolescent
would do in her culture. Hers was an ordinary, commonplace, run-of-the-mill
life. Though she looked forward to her marriage, her life would
be lived just like every other woman in her community after the
marital knot had been tied. Then, when she least expected it, the
surprising angel broke in and told her that her life was
more important than she would ever have thought possible. God was
with her and in God’s eyes she was highly favored.
Sometimes
it feels that our life is small, obscure, seemingly insignificant.
We wonder if the activities of our days, that seem so mundane can
really make a difference. Does our life count for anything? Does
cleaning the house, caring for children, attending yet another meaningless
meeting, shopping for groceries, watching another sit-com on television
prove that our life has meaning? Will we come to old age and feel
as though our life has had no purpose at all?
Just
when we are busy at the regular round of tasks in our day, the surprising
angel steps in to remind us that God is with us and our life does
matter. The surprising angel may give us a new task,
or may tell us that the tasks we have already been given are the
very ones through which God will change the world. But, are you
poised to believe the surprising angel when you are told how important
you are?
O
God, let the ordinariness of my life be made extraordinary through
your presence.
In that region there were shepherds living in the fields,
keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the
Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around
them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do
not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of
great joy for all the people.” —Luke 2:8-10
When
God has a message for us, the glory angels are
frequently the ones to deliver it because it is always in the midst
of glory that we finally stop our frantic movement, halt mid-step,
mid-thought and turn aside to see the holy presence that is around
us always, but which we so often block from our sight. Our
constant activity, our racing mind, our distracted spirit can keep
us deadened to the miraculous, and we need something that will cause
us to stop in order to see the wonder and hear a new word from heaven.
Because
we are not used to a continuous experience of the Holy One, we are
easily frightened when the glory angels come and surround us with
the shining presence of God. Our fear is but a confirmation that
we have allowed our souls to be clouded from that which feels so
distant from us. But it takes only the flash of an instant to be
engulfed in the brilliance that can completely transform our lives.
Are you poised to stop when the glory angel passes by?
O
God, overshadow me with the cloud of your presence until I am
completely at peace in the grandeur that I so often miss.
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an e-card with this message
Now
after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph
in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother,
and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod
is about to search for the child, to destroy him.”
—Matthew 2:13
We
have limited sight. We cannot know all the twists and turns that
are about to be unfolded before us. We make decisions based on
what we know, what we can see, what we can reasonably predict.
This is why we are so stunned, startled, and shocked when tragedy
strikes, or why we are so amazed, astounded, and awed when unexpected
miracles are spread out before us. In both cases, we try to comprehend
what has happened and take new actions based on what we understand.
Because our sight is limited, we can sometimes find ourselves
in situations that could have been avoided had we had better information.
The directing angels step in to give us that
information.
Joseph
could not have known the mind of Herod or that his child was in
danger. And, even, had he known, he might not have been able to
divert the disaster. The directing angel came to his aid and pointed
out a path for him to take to insure the child’s safety.
While directing angels do not prevent all tragedy, suffering,
and disaster, they stand ready to move into our world and into
our dreams to indicate a new way for us to tread. Are you poised
not only to hear the words of the directing angel, but to act
on them?
O
God, I can see only a short way before me. Crack my self-sufficiency
so that my tender beating heart can hear the sound of your
leading.
Then
the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
—Matthew 4:11
We
know what temptation is like. It feels like our very souls are
being squeezed by alluring desire, and the more we resist, the
stronger the clamp becomes on our soul. When we finally feel an
abatement of the lure, we feel emotionally, spiritually, and physically
spent. We feel like a limp noodle dropped carelessly onto the
floor. Such times of temptation and struggle are followed by moments
and days that feel as peaceful as scanning a panorama from atop
a mountain at the first crack of dawn. Then, we have trouble even
remembering the pain of the struggle just past. We sink down into
the well of tranquility and languidly allow our souls to be mended
and healed.
Where
did the great possibility for peace come from? How did the struggle
come to an end? How did hope return? What happened to our frayed
emotions, our scratched spirits, our rubbed raw souls? It is the
work of the ministering angels. They are ever ready to step into
the breach between those tenuous times in life when we are overwhelmed
by the lure and pull of misplaced desire and the times of silent
and sacred space that clasps and cradles us in stillness. We
never face temptation and struggle alone. We are
not forever constrained to fight until we have no breath and are
left listless and lifeless. The ministering angels stand silently
by to flood us with peace. Are you poised for the ministering
angels’ caring contact?
O
God, keep me from the desires that cloud my mind, my heart,
my soul and lead me far away from the center of myself and
from the heart of heaven.
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing
that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
— Hebrews
13:2
They
could be anyone—anywhere—at any time. Cloaked in human
skin, hesitant to unveil themselves, they travel humbly and anonymously
through creature time. The disguised angels are
here to remind us of God’s presence in our lives and in
the universe, to care for the undisclosed needs of our soul, to
watch over the unfortunate situations we get ourselves into, to
guide us into new ways of being, to bring a holy balance to the
distortions of our lives.
Because
they can be so easily missed, we need to be on the lookout—always
prepared to encounter them even in the most ordinary of circumstances.
Knowing they might “show up” at the most unexpected
times reminds us to keep our hearts open. We really cannot turn
anyone away from the hospitality of our hearts, because that very
one may be one of the disguised angels. When we are tempted to
narrow our friendships, exclude those who are different from us,
busy ourselves with no one but those who form our small network,
then we risk missing the Divine Presence in our midst.
We
risk being deaf to the word of God to us—the word that has
the potential to completely alter our lives and unlock the gates
that keep us enclosed in our safe, but surprisingly fragile existence.
Perhaps the most important message the disguised angels bring
is that we are meant to live open-armed, openhearted, open-spirited—because
the Divine can be encountered at any instant.
Are you poised to welcome the disguised angels who will break
you out from the bars of sheltered safety and lead you into the
uncharted mystery of God?
O
God, do not allow my eyes and heart to close like a curtain
across my little life. Keep me alert to the presence of your
mystery.
Copyright
©2006 Renée Miller
The devotions above were excerpted from DAILY VITAMINS FOR THE SOUL,
Volume Four. To purchase a copy, visit lulu.com.
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