Hark the Herald Angel Sing. O Come All Ye Faithful. Angels From the Realms of Glory. The First Noel. Good Christian Men Rejoice. God Rest You Merry Gentlemen. Angels We Have Heard on High. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear.
All Songs of Christmas – All talk about Angels.
What would you do if you saw an angel? Would you even know it was an angel?
“8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:8-12
It says here that the shepherds who saw the angel were terrified. The angels “glowed” – the glory of the Lord shone around them. These shepherds knew there was a supernatural presence around them.
When I talk to the students in the Library I find them willing to believe in evil, in ghosts and demons, in spirits. They seem to be drawn to the dark side. The movies, the books, the games they play, from vampires to magical spells. Why is it so easy to believe in evil and not in the “good”. When I pointed it out to one girl and asked her about it, she acknowledged that it was odd that she found it hard to think of the “good”. My interactions with the students has convinced me that our young people and possibly people in general are hard pressed to find “good”, they have focused so much attention on the dark and evil.
It was during one of these conversations that God told me to tell them my angel story.
I truly believe I met my guardian angel…
I lived on a long straight stretch of road that ended in a sharp corner and continued on down a long straight hill. I and my dog walked this road every morning at 6am. I had lived on this road for a number of years, the properties on this stretch were small acreages so they houses were spread out a bit, not bunched together. I knew everyone who lived along this stretch of road and even up further.
This one morning we, my dog and I started out walking, we had a long driveway and when I came to the end I looked both ways and stepped out onto the road to head in the direction of the sharp corner. I saw no one else on the road that morning and being flat, I could see a fair ways in both directions. As usual, my dog had stopped at the top of the corner to take the opportunity to water the roadside foliage. I glanced back and was startled and stunned to see a lady walking approximately 20 feet behind me. She really rattled me by being there. I figured the polite thing to do was to wait for her since she was so close.
“Did you see the bear?” she asked me when she came up to me.
“What bear?” I asked.
“He was right there,” she pointed with her hand at a spot just down from me.
As we started walking together I realized the bear was very close to us.
“Right here?” I asked her as we walked past the point where she had been pointing.
She nodded. I remember thinking to myself that if I had not stopped to wait for her, the bear would have run right into us. I would have been caught up in the middle of a dog and bear encounter. I marveled that I had not seen it, it was so close, but then I was glancing back at the time.
As we walked along the road I asked her where she was off to. She replied that she was going to work. She had a backpack on and I assumed it was for her lunch etc. I asked her where she lived. She told me that she lives on that road and always walks the same stretch of road every day at the same time. I found it odd at the time that I did not recognize her since I knew everyone on the road and that I walked the same road every day at the same time, how weird that we had not encountered each other before.
I walked with her until the next corner and then I said goodbye and walked away in another direction. I glanced back to ensure she was continuing on walking into town but I was shocked to see she had simply vanished.
I stood stark still and just looked, hoping if I looked hard enough she would materialize and come back. But she was gone.
I realized at that point that I believed I had met my guardian angel – she had become visible to ensure that I would not have run into the bear with my dog.
Now I have no proof that it was an angel. She did not glow. She did not sing but she did intervene so that I would not have had a horrible encounter with a bear.
Angels do God work. They bring us closer to God. By seeing my guardian angel (whether it was or not)… I was thanking God for saving me from the bear. It brought me closer to Him. My life changed. Besides the backpack, I would be hard pressed to give you a description of the lady who walked with me, it was not about her – it was about God sending her to save me.
The shepherds after their angel visit got up and went to find baby Jesus. Their life changed.
The girl Mary, when visited by an angel, sought to do Gods will and willingly gave her life to God and said she was God’s servant, may His will be done. Her body carried the life of baby Jesus. Her life changed.
The Bible says about angels: “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” Hebrews 1:14
We too have a mission field all around us – people need to know about the baby in the manger, who has been forgotten by many, even though the holiday we are about to celebrate bears His name: Christ – mas. This baby who can change them and the world around them, He can offer them hope where there is none. He offers love when often there is little. He offers them the gift of salvation, the greatest gift of not just Christmas but of all time, the greatest present ever given.
As we hear the Christmas songs around us, let us join with the angels and sing about, the one who can change lives. At Christmas time amid the packing and partying, each time we hear about the angels who point people to God, let us faithfully do the same and bring to the world a “presence” instead of “presents”.