Meeting Angels

Meeting Angels

 

“Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.”– Romans 13:2

When I get to heaven, there will be many people I want to find and talk to.  I want to talk to my granddaddy once again, and feel his hug one more time.  I want to see my grandmother and see that once and for all, she is healed, and back to being her spunky self!  Most definitely I want to see Jesus!  But then I know there will be those times when one passes me, and our eyes meet, I see their smile,  and I think “Did I know them? They look so familiar!”

We’ve all been there.  You’re in the grocery store, at church, or at a social event, and someone calls you by your first name, knows you well, and reminisces of things in the past – and yet – you couldn’t name them any more than you could name the queen’s dog!  When we get to Heaven, we’re going to have some of these moments as well, because some of the ones we will know have only been strangers here.

God’s word in Romans 13:2 says that we have entertained strangers who were angels.  It advises us to be kind to strangers, because they may be His angels.  That means they aren’t just spirits floating through the air, but they have bodies as we do.  They are in our midst every day.  It may be the lady in front of us at the grocery store taking more time than we thing she should, but that time we felt wasted kept us from an accident on the way home.  It may be the stranger that returns our wallet when we lose it with all the cash inside.  Or it could be as simple as someone that said the right thing at just the right time to lift our spirits and cause us to be happy in times of pain.

Hebrews 1:14 says, “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?”  They are here for the good of those that are God’s children.  He sends them to watch over us, but yet, we only know them as strangers. 

Psalms 91:9-12 gives account of the work of angels toward us and says,

“Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.”

They “keep charge” over us, meaning they watch over us.  God, in His infinite love for us, has provided an army of angels to care for us – not at a distance – but where we are.  We often read of stories where an angel does some feat of strength to save a person, such as lifting a car off them, or saving them from a fire.  I’ve heard stories of children being comforted by an angel they saw as their parents were dying.  Another story was of a rapist testifying that he saw angels surround a woman that he had picked to be a victim, causing him not to touch her.  Yes, they are all around us!

We read of their acts toward God’s people throughout His word.  Acts 5:19 tells of them opening prison doors to free the apostles.  Matthew 4:11 tells of them coming to Jesus after He was tempted by satan to minister to Him.  In 2 Kings 6:17, when Elisha’s servant was afraid of the army he saw, God enabled him to see the unseen army of angels that surrounded him.  When Elijah ran from Jezebel in 1 Kings 19:5, and finally slept from the exhaustion, it was an angel that told him “Arise and eat”.  It was an angel that told Mary, and the Joseph, of the birth of Jesus to come in Luke 1. It was an angel that told Cornelius to bring Peter to his house to explain the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Acts 10. In Numbers 22 Balaam’s donkey saw the angel sent to prevent his travel even when Balaam did not see him.   

Sometimes I wonder when our dogs bark and I can’t see anything if they are seeing an angel.  I guess that is just one more question I can ask Jesus when I get there, and see the army of guards He has placed over me. 

As you go about your daily routine today, remember, you are not in this world alone.  He has placed a guard upon you.  They are there, seen and unseen, heard and unheard, to care for you, His Precious Child.