What is an angel? Most of us think of a beautiful creature with long shining hair and soft white wings. Or if you're like Sarah, you picture a fierce warrior wielding a sword. Angels can be both. The Bible tells us about angels, heavenly beings that come from God to do His business. Sometimes they're delivering messages, sometimes they're kicking bad guy tail; but either way, they make a pretty big spectacle. Like that first Christmas two thousand and some-odd years ago, when they lit up the whole sky singing about the Savior's birth. “GloooOoooOooooOooooOriaaa...In Excelsis DeEoooo.”
Can you imagine, the whole field full of bright white heavenly light, and the whole sky full of these beautifully horrifying beings, and the whole ground shaking with the sound of their voice? Those poor shepherds. x]
Given, it's pretty awesome that God has special beings that He uses for messengers or on-call guards, depending on what needs to be done. Maybe someone needs encouragement (like Elijah), or guidance (like Joseph), or even a spiritual slap upside the head (like Balaam). Those angels seemed to come around all the time in the Bible. But the funny thing is, they don't show up as much as they used to—at least, not the real deal. You hear all kinds of stories about fake angels saying they're sent from God when they're really from the devil. A lot of people lose heart because they think God must not care about us very much anymore, just because He doesn't send angels or prophets or messengers anymore. That we know of.
Back in Bible times, people would have believed it when an angel appeared and spoke to them. In these modern times, there's fifty million things that angel could be besides an actual angel sent straight from God. It could be a hologram, or a computer generated image, or a robot, or a hallucination. They'd think the angel was an alien before they believed it was from God. My dad and I talked about that back in April when I was helping him paint a house. I was eating a peanut-butter-and-honey sandwich, quietly listening to him rant about how stupid modern-day Christians are. “Why doesn't God send prophets anymore?” he wanted to know. Usually I don't say much when he's talking, because I consider my own opinions to be pretty stupid. But my mind was preoccupied with something else, and I answered before I could catch myself: “Well, nobody would believe them.”
People don't believe in miracles or magic anymore. In a world where science holds all the answers, there's no need to believe in higher powers. There's no need to believe in a higher meaning. Sci-fi has become the new Bible and the new religion. Even the real Christians who believe in angels and such can hardly believe it when an angel or a prophet shows up—because there's been so many fakes cleverly staged by either demons or people who want publicity. So it's pretty feasible to assume that God doesn't send heavenly messengers anymore simply because nobody would listen to them. But that doesn't mean He doesn't send messengers at all. God never loses. He just changes His tactic a little.
Sometimes when I look back at my days in public school, I smile a little and wonder...what do they think of me now? I was a mysterious girl, beautiful, sweet and kind. No matter what anyone did to me, I braced myself and took it with a smile. I was never mean to anyone, at least not in their eyes; I may have lost my temper and cursed every once in a while, but I never did low, underhanded things like they would have in the same situation. No one knew who I was or where I came from. And when I left, I might as well have vanished into thin air. There would have been no way of proving that I'd actually been a real person. For all they know, I could have been an angel. I could have been sent by God to shine a light in that dark place. And who knows, maybe I was.A friend of mine calls me Angel. Every time I see it in a message, I have to smile a little. Me, an angel? I was a brat in my childhood, I was a sneak in my early teens, and I was just plain evil when I was 16. Nowadays, I can't seem to do anything right. I'm always having dark, morbid thoughts. Some angel I am...at least, in my own opinion. What's the definition of the word angel? A messenger, a guide, a protector. I've been all of the above. With my smile and with my kind acts, I carry the message of salvation. With my encouraging and inspirational words, I point out the light waiting at the end of the tunnel. With a heart that cries out to everyone I see hurt, I do my best to shield my closest friends from harm...and I usually end up saving them in one way or another. God has obviously appointed me to be some kind of backup angel here on earth. That's a big responsibility! Sometimes it makes me pretty upset, because I feel like I'm not good enough. But if I wasn't good enough, God wouldn't have assigned me in the first place.
And have I met angels of my own? Well, sure I have! I won't name names, because I don't want anyone to feel embarrassed. But let me tell you right now, none of those angels exactly fit the stereotype that people have going on in their brains. Most of them are either rebellious punks or brokenhearted individuals. Still, they've been angels to me. They were there when I needed someone. One of them gave me the message to never give up. One of them guides me down this lonely road of life. One of them is my protector, shielding me from hurt. Goodness gawsh, I know angels! O_O Not only that, they're my close personal friends!!!
So many people go around looking for angels. Funny thing is, most of them are in plain sight. They're in the disguise of the tough punk girl who thinks she's ugly and mannish, or the hyperactive fat girl who's always crying, or the bad boy who seems destined for trouble. If you can't see them, be an angel yourself. It doesn't take much--and I tell you this from experience. It's as easy as a smile. Just try it out and see what happens. :)
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