Ministering Angels!

What does a preacher do on a Sunday when church has been called off due to icy road conditions?  You would think sleep in, right?  You might even think I'd get up and fix a nice hot breakfast, since that NEVER happens.  But no, I didn't do that either.  Instead, I got up at 5 am as usual, came into my office and began clearing my desk: finished entering year end computer work in preparation for the new year, filed that stack of paperwork I hadn't filed in the last six-months, and straightened bookshelves.  STRAIGHTENED BOOKSHELVES!  WHY?  Why couldn't I have slept in, rested the morning away and gone downstairs to spend time with Wes?  I asked myself those exact questions. 

As I reflected, I began to pray.  In that moment something unusual and awe-inspiring happened.  I was deep in thought, thinking about our upcoming eight-weeks at John's Hopkins, thinking about my two churches and how they would fare in my absence, thinking about finishing up CPE and this final phase of Provisional Membership before ordination; thinking, thinking, thinking!  That's when it happened.  Something outside the window that I face at my desk, caught my eye.  It was a million small particles of frost and snow that the wind hurled off the roof of the house.  They danced at the window for what seemed minutes and yet I know it was only seconds.  It was an amazing swirl of up and down drafts, blowing to and fro, while glistening in the sunlight like sparkling bits of diamond-dust.  But the most amazing part is that each small particle or tiniest flake was well distinguished, not like dust at all, but more like a microscopic glimpse of the Heavenly Host.  Then, as I was entranced by the image, the beauty and the wonder of it, God spoke.  I heard the scripture from Hebrews 1:14, which says:

"Are not the angels all (servants) ministering spirits, sent out in the service [of God for the assistance] of those who are to inherit salvation?" (The Amplified Bible)

What a special promise.  In fact, I think had I listened any harder, I would have heard the angels at my window singing, "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of Your glory!"  I was being ministered to by angels!  I couldn't see them but they were there!  All around me, swirling to and fro, in a dance of protection, ministry of peace and service to my soul, assisting God in comforting me, and ushering in a sense of well-being.  The kind of peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).  That kind of peace comes only from heaven!  This peace, has continued to surround me all day, and I've been bathed in it.  Gone is the stress, gone are the questions, gone is the fear of the unknown.  All this replaced by the reality that God's got this.  Whatever it is...God's got it.

So, today was a reality check.  More real than cancer, is the God who carry's you through whatever He brings you to! 

Thank you Precious Lord for the grace you gave me today.  Thank you for opening a window of heaven and for pouring me out a blessing that is uncontainable!  For, today I saw heaven, even if it was a glimpse of it, and I give You thanks!