Anyone Believe in Angels?

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
In yesterday’s perspective, I said this: Coming to that place of compliant surrender to His sovereign, predetermined plan for my life, is no easy task; in fact, I cannot do it. To be sure, it is one thing for me to say that I trust God; however, it is quite another for me to truly trust Him. Oh, I can talk-the-talk, but walking-this-walk, well, it is too difficult for me.
Because I know the mentality of many of the “religious” church-goers of our day, I am certain that there are those who would say that they are so “sold-out-to-Jesus,” that they live in this place of “compliant surrender” twenty-four-seven. Well, I do, too, when things are going my way, but when they are not going my way, it is a different story; rest assured that one would be hard-pressed to describe my response to adversity as “compliant surrender.” In other words, I am very familiar with Paul’s “kicking against the goads” (Acts 26:14)!”
Were it not for what I know about Jesus’ own struggle with “compliant surrender,” mine would probably do me in, as there have been many times in my life, when I was bombarded by adversity, the present being no exception, and without exception, I have proved to be a weenie. Jesus’ experience in the Garden of Gethsemane has been a source of genuine encouragement for me: “And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, ‘Father, if Thou art willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Thine be done.’ Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground” (Luke 22:41-45 NASB; emphasis added).
Have you ever wondered why He needed the help of an angel to get Him through this struggle? He did because He was STRUGGLING, in the same way that we struggle, almost to the point of trying to find a way to avoid God’s predetermined plan for His life!
Anyone believe in angels?