Angels Ride the Subway

 “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and

to bring you to the place I have prepared.” Exodus 23:20 (NIV)

    He didn’t look like an angel to me, at least not like any angel I had pictured. He had long dark dreadlocks curling almost to his waist and a red and black bandana tied at the back of his head. His sleeveless jacket was woven with what appeared to be strands of yarn in purple, red, yellow, and green. His jeans were thin denim, frayed at the bottom.

    I hadn’t even noticed him at first, sitting right next to me. My stress level was a 12 on a 10 scale as I watched the young woman in the next row alternate between leaning back in her seat and then slumping forward, her arms hugging her chest, her eyes closed.

    We had been at the Passion Conference in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta when she became quite ill, and since I was the nurse with the group, I volunteered to get her back to the hotel. There was only one problem, and it was a huge one.

    I was not blessed with any sense of direction when I was created. None. I get lost in closets and small bathrooms. Every way I turn is north. Always. And she and I were on the MARTA – the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority – trying to get back to the airport to catch a shuttle to our hotel. Directionally challenged. On the subway. In a strange city. Mercy.

    She motioned for me to lean over, and I heard her whisper, “You know how to get us back, right Nurse Nancy?” I smiled confidently and said, “Of course I do. We are going to be fine.” She leaned back and closed her eyes, and I leaned back to find the young man next to me half-smiling. “You don’t know where you’re going, do you.” he stated quietly, not as a question, but as fact. 

    “Uh, no. No, I don’t. But she is really sick, and I have to get her back to our hotel” I told him as I silently prayed “Lord, help us! You know I have no sense of direction! Please get us back!” 

     Two minutes later, the subway slowed to a stop, and I felt panic begin to take over. Do we get off here? Do we ride further? What are we going to do? Suddenly I noticed that the young man had gotten up from his seat and was standing at the door, ready to leave.

    But two other things also caught my eye: one, that he was very tall, and two, that he was motioning with his head that we were at our first stop. I grabbed the young lady with me and put my arm around her as I whispered, “Come on. This is where we get off,” with a confidence that I absolutely did not feel. We stepped out of the subway and into swarms of people trying to get around us to the seats we had just exited.

    For a second time, I felt panic begin to creep into my body when I noticed the young man glance back at me and once again nod his head as he walked around a corner. “This way,” I told her, but stopped as I rounded the corner and realized there were four possible directions to go in, and I had no idea which was the one for us.  

    “Lord!” I cried out in my heart and looked to my left. There at the top of a flight of stairs was a beautiful sight: a very tall young man with dark dreadlocks standing still on the first step, as the rush of people flowed around either side of him. And he was looking at me. 

    One more nod, and I could not help the grin as I mouthed “Thank you” and helped the young woman with me as we followed him down the stairs to the next level in the subway. 

“Wait right here,” I told her. “I want to thank the man who helped us.” But as I turned around, he was nowhere to be seen. Nowhere. A very tall young man with dark dreadlocks, a red and black bandana on his head, and a colorful jacket had completely disappeared in a matter of seconds. 

    I turned back to the young woman and said, “He’s gone! How could he have disappeared like that? He was so tall. I couldn’t have missed him!” We both looked at each other. “An angel. He must have been an angel,” I told her. She nodded. “God took care of us.” But we were not home yet. 

    This new level in the subway posed new problems. Which way to go now? The crowd of  a few minutes earlier was gone and we were left standing with only a woman and her baby in a stroller.

    “You got us this far, Lord. Which way now? Which way?” I prayed. My answer came in the form of a very tiny lady in a blue shirt and slacks who suddenly appeared in front of me. “Where you goin’ Honey?” she asked. “We are trying to get back to the airport,” I told her. “My friend here is sick, and I need to find the right subway car to get her there.”

    Her smile was huge as she instructed me, “You stay right here, facin’ this way,” she replied. “Don’t move ‘cause this car that’s comin’ is gonna take you to the airport. You stand in this spot you are in now, and the doors will open right in front of you.”

    “We are almost there!” I smiled excitedly at the young woman as I turned with an “Oh, thank….” But the tiny lady in the blue shirt who had helped us was gone. We looked  around everywhere for her, but she, too, had disappeared in seconds.

    Would you believe that the subway car opened its doors directly in front of us? Yes, it did. And we were able to get back to the airport, to a shuttle, and to the hotel to begin healing about 15 minutes later.

    I have no plans to go back to Atlanta and the Georgia Dome anytime in the future. But one thing I do know: if I ever ride the MARTA again, God will provide angels on the subway to get me home.

    Father, you are amazing. Being lost is always so hard for me. Thank you for sending help just when I needed it. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up

Reflect

• Have you ever been in a situation where you panicked because you were “lost” as to what to do, and received help from a stranger?

• When you are faced with a hard situation, what do you do first? Pray or panic?

Apply

• The next time you are confronted with a problem with seemingly no solution, ask the Lord to send help to you and watch as He is faithful.

• Do not forget to thank Him for answering your prayer.

Power 

• Exodus 23:20 (NIV) “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.”

• Psalm 91:11-12 (NIV) “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”

• Luke 4:10 (NIV) “For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully . . .”

 

Protected In the Shadow of Your Wings

 “Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.” Psalm 63:7 (NIV)

    My husband was the manager of a propane company for many years, and he often filled in for his drivers by delivering propane to the homes of his customers. One customer, an elderly woman, had a small dog that was a constant irritation.

    Every time my husband stepped out of his propane truck, the dog would greet him by nipping his ankles and legs. No amount of kicking at it or yelling would stop it from attacking. Every delivery to her home would result in rips in his work pants and cuts on his legs.

    Finally, in complete frustration with the dog’s persistence, he grabbed a wrench from the truck seat and thumped the dog on the head. It immediately yipped its way to the back of the house. “I thought THAT would take care of the problem,” my husband later told me.

    As soon as he reached the customer’s door and started to knock, he heard the dog yipping again as it came around the corner of the house – but this time a huge Doberman pincher was leading the way with the smaller dog close behind. He may have been little, but he was not worried because he had a much bigger dog watching over him and serving as his protector.

    “That little dog danced around under the back legs of the big dog as I stood pinned to the house until the lady came out to help,” my husband continued. “I swear it was taunting me and singing ‘Takin’ Care of Business.’ There was no way I could move,” he went on.

    I can’t help but think of Psalm 63:7 when I think of that story. David understood the feeling of being attacked. But his attacker was King Saul, and he didn’t want to simply nip David’s ankle – he wanted to kill him! Even so, David knew that no matter what came his way, God was his deliverer.

    And David also understood something else: he could sing praises of joy and deliverance in all circumstances because God was his protector, watching over him, and defending his life.

    What are you facing that is nipping at your ankles every time you turn around? What keeps you awake at night and rolls around in your mind all day? Absolutely nothing is bigger than God’s ability to handle it and to protect you. Seek His help. Call on His name. When we allow the Creator of the Universe to take care of us, we can sing and praise from the shadow and protection of His wings.

    Father, thank you for protecting me in the shadow of your wings as you watch over my every need. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . . 

Reflect

•  Have you had a problem or situation that has been on your mind constantly, and you are unable to get it off your mind? 

•  Did you call on the Lord to help you? Why or why not?

Apply

•  In your journal, draw a picture of huge wings.

•  Now list every problem, worry, or situation you are facing under the picture of those wings. Then praise the Lord for His protection as you sing in His shadow.

Power 

•   Psalm 63:7 (NIV) “Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.”

•   Nahum 1:7 (NIV) “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him. . .”

•   II Corinthians 4:8-9 (NIV) “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

Weapons in the War Room

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” II Corinthians 10:3-4 (NIV)

      Eleven years ago, I saw the movie “War Room,” and it impacted my prayer life more than anything I had ever seen. In the movie, a marriage was failing as a husband and wife found they were growing apart in their personal, spiritual, and professional lives. And neither seemed to notice that their daughter was struggling too. That is, until Miss Clara prayed. In her war room. And lives were turned upside down as never before.

    Miss Clara was a friend who had an actual room in her home where she could shut the door, kneel before the Lord, and bring her prayer requests to Him. Her prayers were a battle plan against Satan, and she spent many hours presenting them to the Lord. He heard and answered, and a marriage was renewed, a daughter was encouraged, and lives were completely changed and refocused – all because of prayer in a war room.

    I began to think about a War Room in my home and finally chose a closet in the hallway. I moved out blankets, pillows, and wreaths hooked on shelves. Everything in the closet was replaced with 3 x 5 note cards on which I wrote the date, person’s name, my prayer request, and then thumbtacked them to the wall.

   Early each day, I would go in, add cards as needed, look at the prayer requests, and pray over each one. As prayers were answered, I wrote the date on that card. But at the same time, I wrote the date of prayers that were not yet answered: the healing for a neighbor, a positive pregnancy test for a couple, and a revived marriage for good friends.

   I found myself becoming discouraged as I looked at the wall and unanswered prayer requests. That was when the Lord whispered to my heart: “You are focusing on each situation and not on me. Don’t look at each card as a win or loss. Look at them as opportunities to allow my power to work in those lives. Look around this room. What are you forgetting?”

   Instantly, I realized what I had been doing. I had prayer requests everywhere, but not one spot on my wall was reserved for the Word of God! I was looking at the situation and praying, yes, but I was not drawing on the one huge weapon that God has for His children: Scripture from His Word.

   Miss Clara had Scripture written all over her war room and spoke it with confidence every single time she entered that room! How could I have forgotten how important the Bible was and is? The wall of my war room changed drastically that day. I went straight to my Bible and began to write Scripture on note cards and place them among my prayer requests.

   I wrote Exodus 14:14, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still,” and placed it beside a card for a man struggling with cancer. On another card, I wrote Isaiah 26:3-4 “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.” and prayed as I tacked it beside one whose marriage was falling apart.  Every day, Scripture was placed among the prayer requests until the wall was almost completely covered.

   Today, my War Room has become a precious place for me to kneel before my Father and share my prayer requests with Him. But it is also a place where I can pull out my weapon – the Word of God – and speak His power, mercy, and Truth over each prayer need on my War Room wall.  

    Father, thank you for your words of encouragement and comfort for us, your children. Help us to focus on you, no matter what we face in our lives. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

• When you pray, where is your focus? 

• Do you focus on the situation or the Savior?

Apply

• Find a closet/small room in your home that you can use as your war room.

• For every prayer request that you tack to the wall, write Scripture on a note card and place it beside that request. Praise the Lord for His answer.

Power 

•  II Corinthians 10:3-4 (NIV) “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”

• Hebrews 4:12 (NIV) “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

• Ephesians 6:12 (NIV) “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

 

Dedicated To the One I Love

 “He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.” John 7:18 (NIV)

    Spending an afternoon reading obituaries of people I do not know is not a normal pastime for me but I confess that I was fascinated by the content of each one.

    Some were very flowery and full of honors the person had attained in his or her lifetime; others were concise and to the point with no frills. But what got my attention was one particular word that was used over and over: “dedicated.”

    Mr. Smith “dedicated his life to the planting of trees in his community.” Mrs. Callahan’s obituary stated that she was “completely dedicated to her bridge club for 33 years.” Yet another woman “dedicated everything she had to promoting healthier lifestyles for household pets.”

   I am certain that those activities were important to those people and may have been important to others around them as well and I am equally certain that they were worthwhile pastimes. But I cannot help but try to wrap my mind around the word “dedicated.”

   It is defined in the dictionary as “devoted to a task or purpose; having single-minded loyalty, exclusively allocated to or intended for a particular service or purpose.”

   So let me ask you: what are you dedicated to with all your heart and all your life? What task or purpose fills your days and evenings more than anything else? What consumes your thoughts and plans day after day?

   I asked myself those same questions and I didn’t like my answers: surfing the internet, chatting on Facebook or on my cell phone, watching one reality show after another on television. None of those activities are bad or heading me on a path straight to the lake of fire.

   But where is my dedication to sharing Jesus with the elderly neighbor next door or writing a note to someone that I know is hurting or time simply spent in the presence of my Father telling Him how much I love Him?

   If my obituary were written today, I fear it would read “She was dedicated to four hours on the internet every day – rain or shine.”

   Not anymore. I resolve to refocus my life on the eternal.  Then perhaps one day my obituary will read “Her life was dedicated to the One she loved.”

   Father, this moment I dedicate my life to you. Show me what I can change so that I am totally devoted to you and to your service. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

• What activity in your everyday life takes up the majority of your time and energy?

• Does it have anything to do with serving the Lord and telling others about Him?

Apply

• Take the time to journal your activities, day by day, for one week.

• At the end of the week, separate your activities together under two titles: “For Me” and “For the Lord” and determine where you dedicate your time. Change if necessary. 

Power

• John 7:18 (NIV) “He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.”

• Matthew 21:37 (NIV) “Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and all your mind.”

• Romans 12:1,2 (NIV) “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.”