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Devotion for Monday, May 11
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
Psalm 91: 11-12
I have a collection of small angel figurines sitting on my fireplace mantle. Although I've been accumulating them for years, I'm not exactly sure where they all came from. I do know that I did not personally buy any of them. Every single one of the angels in my collection was a gift from someone who was thoughtful enough to imagine that I would somehow gain a certain sense of peace, or strength, or comfort, or hope in their presence.
When I was a young child in parochial school, one of the things we were taught is that we each have our own "Guardian Angel" watching over us in a very personal way. I used to take great comfort in that idea and I used to imagine that my personal "angel" was walking alongside me all the time.
An author in Guideposts wrote something I believe can be a source of great comfort to us during this time when we continue to deal with the continuing pandemic. He said that, "angels are characterized as 'ministering spirits' in the Bible, and we see that they were often sent to give human beings consolation during periods of great suffering. The most touching example of this, perhaps, was when an angel was sent to the Garden of Gethsemane to comfort Jesus during his agony..."
Sometimes I don't even realize how much I appreciate the many gifts I've been given - figures of angels praying, angels praising God, angels reaching out to care for others, or angels simply "being." And sometimes I find myself gazing at them as they line my mantle, and feeling a soft glow of peace and comfort.
If you haven't thought much about the presence of God's angels all around you, protecting you, watching over you, and praying for you in these last few weeks and months, I'd invite you to take a few minutes to do that. And while you're at it, don't forget to thank God for those people you know who are your real-life angels.
Pastor Janice
Prayer: Dear God, I give you thanks for your guidance, your comfort, your peace, and all of the other good gifts you give me each day. And I give you thanks that sometimes those good gifts come to me through angels you have sent my way, whether they are heavenly angels or living, breathing angels you have brought into my life. In Christ's name. Amen.
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