Angels Watching Over Me? Oh, Glory! Part One
“Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” Hebrews 1: 13, 14
Jesus believed in angels. Do you? At his arrest “more than twelve legions of angels” were on stand-by to defend Him (Matthew 26: 53). That means He could have called 72 thousand angels. I know the song says 10,000 but the book says 12 legions and that is 72,000. Angels are mentioned in 34 books of the Bible for a total of 273 times (108 in the Old Testament and 165 in the New Testament.)
Revelation 5: 11 describes the indescribable number around the throne of the Lamb: “…the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.” That means there are billions.
Billy Graham wrote in his book entitled, Angels: God’s Secret Agents, “I am convinced that these heavenly beings exist and that they provide unseen aid on our behalf… I do not believe in angels because I have ever seen one — because I haven’t. I believe in angels because the Bible says there are angels; and I believe the Bible to be the true Word of God.”
Our culture’s inclination toward materialism has robbed us of much. Secular minds think of the universe as a closed system. The mentality of the moment is that we are just the highest form of animals devoid of an immortal soul, and with no other purpose than to attain security and enjoy pleasure.
Many materialists allow nothing from the spiritual world to enter their closed circle of life. This leaves no room for supernatural spirit beings, angels.
The Bible tells us that countless beings fill the vastness of space around us. Actually, since the dawn of creation they have mingled in human affairs. They have in yours. Hebrews 13:2 notes, “Some have entertained angels unawares.”
They are servants of saints. They are not little gods we talk to, worship, or pray to. Nowhere does the Bible authorize praying to an angel. You have direct access to “Our Father….” They do not call attention to themselves, but to Jesus.
Good news! Yes, every person has a guardian angel or angels. That means you are so important to God He wants to provide you with a special guard. To shun this companionship is to abandon help offered by God.
Jesus made specific reference to the guardian role angels play regarding children. “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 18:10)
Again, it is our text that reassures us of the guardian role they play in our lives: “Are they not ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.” (Hebrews 1: 14)
“For He shall give His angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways.” (Psalm 91: 11)
“The angel of the Lord encampS round about them that fear Him, to deliver them.” (Psalm 34: 7) We will never understand them, but we are blessed to have them.
Failure
All, repeat, all, have failed. That being true we must learn to deal with it.
Plan on failing, but do not plan to fail.
By planning on it is meant to plan on your response to it if it happens. With your mental state prepared on how to respond to failure, work with all diligence and your ability not to fail. Abraham Lincoln gave this wise counsel.
“My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.” Disappointed yes, disillusioned or defeated, no.
We are not defined by our failures, but rather by how they help shape us into a better version of ourselves.
Using the jargon of an athlete the renowned Olympic champion Wilma Rudolph said, “Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday.” Failure can lead to deferred success.
“My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure,” said Abraham Lincoln.
When you fail, not if, but when you fail, become known for not blaming others. Redefine yourself as a resilient person like the prophet Habakkuk who after noting his disasters gave this positive response: “Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls—Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” (Habakkuk 3:17-18)
Fear of failure, also called atychiphobia, leads to avoidance of tasks, projects, opportunities, and even other people (out of self-perceived negative judgments and a sense of shame or disappointment) leads to future failure.
When appropriate, admit, “I failed,” (adjective) but that does not mean you are a failure (noun).
As friends of Jesus, our faith and lifestyle leads us to conclude, a realistic view of the failure, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.” (II Timothy 1: 7) Responding positively to that enables us to avoid these shadowy responses: high anxiety in future endeavors, a sense of helplessness, low self-esteem, low sense of personal ability, and emotional pressure.
Don’t make decisions and then ask God to bless them. Ask Him to guide you in making the decisions in the first place. Then ask Him to bless the decision.
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delights in His way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholds him with his hand.” (Psalm 37: 24)
“For a just man falls seven times, and rises up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” (Proverbs 24: 16)
Have this background knowledge for all your actions: “Fear not; for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your God: I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.” (Isaiah 41: 10)
Suffering Saints
“But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.” I Peter 5: 10.
Who wants to suffer? Absolutely no sane person. Who is going to suffer? Absolutely everyone! That being true, it is expedient to get a better understanding of it.
Times of suffering have the potential to make us either bitter or better.
Observe the word order in this verse: first the suffering, then the glory! First, the Cross, then the Crown. In short, believers are to live with the understanding that God’s purpose realized in the future requires some pain in the present.
The Greek word “pascho” means to undergo an experience or experience a sensation including painful, usually difficult circumstances. It is the same verb used to describe the suffering of Christ in I Peter 2:21.
The very trials which may appear to be the means Satan employs for our destruction are the means God employs for our deliverance and development. Behind our opposition stands Satan seeking to devour us, and behind Satan stands God, sure to perfect and purify us.
(A personal word. I suffer from severe chronic pain with other secondary pains. I am still trying to find God’s purpose with little success. Just knowing God has a purpose, though I don’t know it, is consoling and comforting.)
Suffering can either cause you to grow or grumble in the Christian life. You choose for yourself which. Which do you think pleases our loving Lord?
The Greek word “oligos,” translated “little while” is a relative term meaning the exact amount of time varies. Regardless of the length or severity, He has a purpose in it. It may simply be to give us occasion to testify of His sufficiency. That in itself is very significant. However, if a person uses the occasion to complain, there is no positive witness, nor ultimate reward. Though it may seem at times as though it can’t be endured, He will not tempt you beyond the grace He will provide for you. Even a lifetime of suffering is short compared to eternity.
Exhibit A of suffering with the right attitude are the disciples who were beaten for testifying for Jesus. Keep in mind that beating hurt them as bad as it would you.
Then it is said of them: “So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.” (Acts 5: 41)
When we are in the “Refiner’s fire” the trials and/or suffering do not feel short, but long. That being our nature, we should consider our suffering in the context of eternity. This life is stamped “temporarily out of order.” Good news! A day is coming when the Great Repairman will put all things in order for eternity.
We all suffer and at times don’t do it well, but resolve to live an overall lifestyle in order to hear the Master say,
“…Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful over a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” (Matthew 25: 21)
Blind Faith
Christians are often accused of having blind faith. The implication is they have committed intellectual suicide. Not so, Jesus exhorted His followers to “know the truth.” The Christian experience is based on faith in facts. Though it goes beyond reason, it does not go against facts. It calls for one to put the entire mind into their preparation, their whole heart in their presentation, and the full life in their illustration.
The facts in which faith is based are often unknown. How then can that which is unknown be found? As in math to find the unknown start with the known. For example, if 6A equals 12B, what does A equal.
Some feel the best way to find the unknown will of God they need to get alone and think. That is on occasion what we need to do. However, Scripture suggests a different approach. This is fleshed out in Proverbs 16: 3, “Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established.”
The involvement in that which is known, your work, is often a stimulus to thought enabling the unknown to be conceived.
Faith is the rapier thought that foiled fear every time.
Often individuals make their plans and commit them to the Lord asking His blessings on them. Both are admirable, but they are in the wrong order. First, pray about what your plan should be, make the decision and then commit it to Him asking His blessing.
In relating to this passage keep in mind this is a proverb, not a promise. That is, it exposes a principle that is generally true, but to which there are exceptions. When studying a proverb check to see if the concept or principle is repeated in other Scripture as a promise.
Having made a plan, take the following principles into consideration.
First, pray. Prayer should precede and punctuate our every activity.
Second, trust God. Reliance on Him does not insure success, but it does guarantee He will be working in your work. For every hick-up you have God has an antidote. That is, He has backup plans for your back ups.
Next, expect a potential struggle. They are often actions intended to strengthen us for further activity.
Expect opposition. Even the best plans God ordains are opposed by the adversary. Plans designed by God are denigrated by the adversary.
The principle in this passage is repeated in Psalms 37:4. The psalmist says, “Commit your way to the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
Summarily that means if you want what God wants He will provide it in fulfillment of His will.
The Issue of Evil
“Why does God allow bad things to happen?”
If He didn’t He would have to take from us one of our most cherished blessings, the right of choice by making us His automatons. As long as there are choices there will be some bad ones, hence bad things happen. Even the bad things not having a direct human cause are the responsibility of some good thing having become mutant as a course of some direct or indirect human cause.
Bad things often rob us of everything except hope. Hope is often engendered by a chain of events. “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3-4)
As we fumble for an answer we can be assured the answer is within the fact God is a holy, righteous, all powerful, all loving God. The issue is so comprehensive we cannot expect to find a definitive answer. That does not mean there is no answer to the issue, only that we are not presently able to fathom it.
C.S. Lewis noted that if you argue against God you are arguing against the very source that made it possible for you to argue. To conclude there is no answer to the issue of suffering is like reading half of a novel and complaining the author does not develop the plot. By way of analogy there is still much of the book of reason yet to be read. We will finish it in eternity.
Suppose you make a product which is to be used in a certain way and put it on the market. Thereafter people don’t use it in the way intended. That incorrect use is not your will, but your will made it possible. So it is with God’s world. It was not His will for it to be used as it is being used, but His will made it possible for human beings to use it as it is used.
You can be absolutely certain God does not ordain evil, but it is because of evil that His grace abounds.
Bad things don’t happen to good people because there are no good people, only people who are better than others. “There is none righteous, no, not one…” (Romans 3: 10)
If God were unconcerned it could never have been said, “… the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” (John 1: 14) He subjected Himself to our limitations, yet without sin.
We would never have seen Him, “… despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief….Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53: 3 – 5)
The answer is not to be found in a script, but the Savior, not a philosophy, but a person, Jesus. If He did not love us and intend our ultimate good, He would not have chosen the cross. It is His way of saying “I forgive” your misuse of the perfect world I created.