Have you ever faced what appeared to be certain catastrophe looming in your direction, but the bad thing that should have happened, for some mysterious and unexplainable reason, it never did? Ever found yourself in a position where “a spirit of Panic or Depression or Fear” had so overwhelmed you that that it was literally suffocating the very life right out of you and yet, in the darkest hour of your blackest night you called out to God…AND THEN, LIKE A FRAGRANT BREEZE JUST AFTER A SHOWER IN THE SPRINGTIME, YOU SUDDENLY FELT A PEACE AND A CALMNESS THAT WAS INDESCRIBABLE?
As Believers, God has made special provisions so that you and I shall succeed and prosper in this life if we will but learn how to trust Him and to “Believe on His Word.” That “BELIEVING” means not just hearing His Word but it also includes acting on the Word that we have just heard. Yes, there are times that God reminds us of the promises of His Word and they bring us great comfort and peace. And there are other times that God sends His Holy Spirit into our lives to intervene in our personal situations. BUT THERE ARE OTHER TIMES IN THE ARENA OF THE SUPERNATURAL THAT GOD TAKES IT EVEN TO ANOTHER LEVEL. FOR SOMETIMES (and oftentimes even without our knowledge of it) GOD SENDS HIS “UNDERCOVER ANGELS” TO INTERVENE ON OUR BEHALF!
In the book of Genesis we have the story of Jacob. In part of that story Jacob had work for his future father-in-law, Laban, for 14 years in order to obtain the “woman of his dreams” Rachel. And yet, his father-in-law was such a difficult man that after 14 years of hard labor, Jacob may have gained the “love of his life” but other than that, his father-in-law had kept him reduced to veritable poverty.
Jacob then made a second bargain with Laban, only this time he decided to “PUT HIS TRUST IN GOD.” And the Lord blessed Jacob abundantly over the next 6 years. And because God did, Laban and his sons became deeply jealous of Jacob. Jacob knew it too, and he realized that his life and the lives of his family were in jeopardy. So one day, when Laban was out of town, Jacob decided to take his family and his flocks and his herds and return to The Promised Land.
In hot pursuit, it was 10 days later when Laban and his sons finally overtook Jacob who had almost made it back to the Promised Land. Laban angrily accused Jacob of cheating him by taking his daughters away without informing him, BUT GOD RESTRAINED LABAN FROM DOING ANY HARM IN ANY WAY TO JACOB! Bloodshed was narrowly averted, Laban and those who had accompanied him returned to their home, and nevermore were they a threat to Jacob. But what was it that had deterred Jacob’s enemies from doing him and his family harm?
God was about to enlighten Jacob. Genesis 32:1-2 tells us that, “IT WAS GOD’S UNDERCOVER ANGELS!” Even though Jacob had not been able to see them before, nevertheless, God had His ministering spirits constantly with Jacob to comfort him, to help him, and to protect him from harm’s way.
Why should that be so important to you and I? Because what God did for Jacob, He does for you and I each and every day! In Psalms 91:11-12 Scripture tells us that God’s angels are “sent forth by God to minister to his people, the heirs of salvation.” That simply means that if we have accepted Christ as our Savior and are willing to live our lives according to His will, then at all times, God has us surrounded by the very angels of heaven. And no matter what the devil may send our way, “GOD’S ALWAYS GOT OUR BACK!”
Jacob called the place Mahanaim because Mahanaim meant “two hosts” or “two camps.” It was here that Jacob observed that he was not alone; God had him "SURROUNDED BY ANGELS." It wasn’t that God's angels had just joined Jacob. They had been with him all the time. Only now, God allowed Jacob to see the angels that were with him.
And when he finally did see them, he saw 2 hosts of them. God had one host of angels in front of him to stop all those things that he would soon confront. But God also had a host of angels behind Jacob, so that no enemy might launch some sort of sneak attack from behind him as well.
And that’s exactly how it is with us, Psalms 34:7 informs us “THE ANGEL OF THE LORD ENCAMPETH ROUND ABOUT THOSE THAT FEAR (reverence) HIM, AND (He will) DELIVER THEM.” Therefore none of us have to live in fear of anything. We don’t have to be fearful of a bad economy, or of sickness, or of those who seek to do us harm, or of the devil, not even of death—because God’s angels are always with us…and they don’t “just” protect us from what lies ahead, they even protect us from those things that like to sneak up on us unaware from behind. Daniel said of angels (in Daniel 7:10) “of them there are thousand thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand” in other words, GOD ISN’T EVER GOING TO RUN OUT OF “HIS UNDERCOVER ANGELS” TO INTERVENE ON OUR BEHALF!
So no matter what it is you may be going through right now, and no matter what struggles in this life that you are about to confront, or even what evil things that the devil may be plotting to send your way and cause to creep up on you from behind…remember this: YOU JUST BE ENCOURAGED OH CHILDREN OF GOD, BECAUSE ‘GOD’S ALWAYS GOT YOUR BACK!’”
Food For thought,
Pastor Ken Jones