“I am going to send an angel before you to protect you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared.  Exodus 23:20  HCSB

The Angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them.  Psalm 34:7 HCSB

For He will give His angels orders concerning you to protect you in all your ways.  Psalm 91:11  ESV

If the title of today’s blog sounds familiar, you may recall a song by the same name. According to Wikipedia, the country band, Alabama released the hit song, Angels Among Us in 1993.  It remains one of my favorites today.  It was written by Don Goodman and Becky Hobbs and was released as a Christmas single.  Backup vocals featured in the song are performed by the Sanctuary Choir and the Young Musicians Choir of the First Baptist Church of Fort Payne Alabama.  According to lead singer Randy Owen, they received letters from all over the world saying that the song was a blessing.  He also performed the song at the funeral of his dear friend, Dale Earnhardt Sr.

This song speaks of Angels walking the earth among us, protecting us and comforting us in some of our darkest hours.  The chorus says, “Oh I believe there are, angels among us, sent down to us from somewhere up above.  They come to you and me in our darkest hours to show us how to live, teach us how to give.  To guide us with a light of love.

I often have a particular song playing in my head that will sometimes last for a few days and I guess you know which one it is today.  I have often heard people say, “my guardian angel must have been with me”.  I have at times felt as though some spirit from heaven has protected me in certain situations.

About a year and a half ago, my husband called me late at night to tell me that he was okay but there had been an accident and he was being transported by ambulance to a hospital 20 miles away.  I knew something was up because he was only a mile from the nearest hospital when the accident occurred.  I met him there and he was covered in blood but was alert and responsive and seemed to be in good spirits and no pain.  As we waited for the doctor he told me that he had flipped over the car door of his police unit. He said that he landed on his back on the pavement of a parking lot after the driver of his police car, an officer in training, struck a pole.  He said that he had been standing on the door frame.  Long story short, I thought he must have been mistaken and that he must have fallen backwards out the door.  But, then his friend sent security video which shows him flipping over the car door and into the air where he landed on his back on the pavement.  He got three stitches in his head from where it hit the pavement.  He had always had back problems, but his back was not hurt and actually was feeling a little better.  Now let me say here, I do not recommend you try this to cure your back pains.  As I watched the video, I could just envision angels carrying him safely to the ground as he flipped in the air.  I have no explanation for how he was not injured much worse.  We know that angels played a key part in this.

Angels played a key part in the Christmas story.  We know that the angel, Gideon, appeared to Zechariah first to announce the coming birth of John the Baptist to him and his wife, Elizabeth.  We are then told in Matthew that an angel appeared to Joseph when he had decided to quietly divorce Mary and explained that she was carrying the Messiah and that it had indeed been a virgin conception.  We are then told in Luke that Gideon appeared to Mary to explain to her that she would conceive and deliver the Messiah.  We are later told in Luke that an angel appeared to the shepherds to tell them of Jesus’ birth.

In Daniel 6:22, he explained that he had been unharmed after spending the night in the lions’ den because his God had sent an angel to shut the lions’ mouths.  The author Frank E. Peretti wrote two books, This Present Darkness and Piercing The Darkness.  They are wonderful fictional accounts of the spiritual realm that exists around us.  They show how God uses His Angels to protect those that love and fear Him.  They show Psalm 34:7 and Psalm 91:11 in action.  They also show the dark spiritual forces of evil that are mentioned in Ephesians 6.

Like so many of the verses in the Bible, there is a qualifier.  These verses don’t say that everyone gets angels to protect them and encamp around them, but it says that those who fear the Lord have angels encamped around them to protect them.  Psalm 91 begins by telling us that those who choose to dwell in the shelter of God will receive His protection.

Now this fear of the Lord is not the shaking in your boots kind of fear where you are terrified of God, but it refers to a reverential fear that is based on love.  When we fear God it means that we love Him and want to do our best to please Him.  It also means that we understand that He will discipline us when we do wrong. When we live in this way, we have the protection that He offers.  We can count on His angels to guard us.

I pray today that you feel that presence of His angels among you.  I pray that you feel safe and protected.  This helps us to live fearlessly for Him.  Know that if you love Him and devote yourself to Him, that He’s got your back.

Have a great day!