We love the image of a child praying, with an unseen angel hovering just overhead. The scriptures assure us God’s heavenly messengers watch over us, keeping us safe from daily harm.
Angels are there for our good. They can’t cause us harm. They protect us and guard us against the evil one.
Except.
Ahh! Why does there always have to be an except?
Read the story of Jacob and the angel in Genesis 32:22-31. Verses 22-24 set the scene:
The same night [Jacob] arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. And Jacob was left alone.
Jacob was alone, and then he wasn’t. A man appeared out of nowhere. Here’s how it went down:
And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.”
But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
And he said to him, “What is your name?”
And he said, “Jacob.”
Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
Who was this mystery man? Jacob didn’t know him. He was as confused as we are in the day-to-day muddle of our lives. Jacob, now injured, struggled with his misperception and lack of information. Even so, he never lost sight of his goal, a blessing from the man with whom he battled.
Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.”
But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him.
We don’t always recognize the presence of God when it’s activated in our lives. Sometimes we think the homeless person on the side of the road is simply a homeless person, or the neighbor who irritates us with loud music at midnight is simply a bad neighbor. It wasn’t until the next morning that Jacob realized just who he’d wrestled during the night.
So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.
At times, the angels of the Lord need to get our attention. Our callus coworker? We need to learn patience. Our aggravating car repairs? We’re gaining trust in God. The angels God has placed around us are helping us align our natures with that of Christ. And yes, just like Jacob, our angels will bless us in the midst of our troubles, even as we grow to become more like Christ.
When we’re touched by an angel, we’re given an opportunity to become greater than we were before.
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Code: FGO.G.18.17b.vp.esv