Angels Among Us by Lisa Burkhardt Worley, D.Min.
Last night, at church, we had the opportunity to watch the first episode of Season Six of The Chosen. It was incredible, but I was perplexed early on when I saw people with gold skin running at hyper-speed and scaling walls. Who were they? I didn’t put it together until I saw them surrounding the High Priest Caiaphas’ house, where Jesus was being tried. They were angels guarding Jesus!
When Peter tried to stop Jesus’s arrest by cutting off the ear of Malchus, the servant of the High Priest, Jesus rebuked Peter, saying, “Put your sword back in its place,” “For all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Are you not aware that I can call on My Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? (Matthew 26:52-53). A legion is 6,000 angels so he was talking about 72,000 angels!
What I’ve learned is that God protects us as well. Psalm 91:11 promises, “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways…” I know the LORD has placed guardian angels around me because I have had numerous near misses while driving, and somehow, I survived a helicopter crash in my early twenties and being hit by a car in junior school.
How has the LORD protected you?
Years ago, my pastor in San Antonio said something that I’ve pondered ever since. “Heaven could be one atom over.” Could there be another dimension around us that is unseen? I believe it because the Bible confirms this thought.
Hebrews 13:2 says, “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”
Then there is the story of Elisha who was surrounded by the army of King Aram of Israel. His servant was afraid, and Elisha told him, “Don’t be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
Elisha prayed for the LORD to show his servant what he was witnessing, and the servant saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha, an angel army that helped them defeat King Aram’s army that day.
We have to believe God is our protector. He will guard our ways and will guard our minds. He places angels around us, but we need to place Him at the center of our lives in order to experience this fringe benefit of belief.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust (Psalm 91:1).
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