Entertaining Angels

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. —Hebrews 13:2

When we get to heaven, I have no doubt that we will get to see the angel who was sent to be with us from the moment of our birth. Not just from the moment of our conversion, but from the moment of our birth. Because “are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (Heb. 1:14, emphasis added). Could we not all testify to an awareness of God looking after us before we came to faith?

Would you like to entertain an angel? Three suggestions:

• Be open to anybody at any time. You never know if God will send someone who will give you a word that is life changing. I have had it happen to me more than once—by being open to just anybody. God spoke, and the person through whom He spoke may, for all I know, have been an angel.

• Look in the direction of those you think could not possibly help you. Listen to what Jesus said: “When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:13-14). If you want to know how you could possibly entertain an angel, look to people who could not possibly pay you back. God may speak through one of them.

• Remember that the angel, or agent that God uses, may be quite nondescript. He or she may not have wings; there may be no glistening brilliance. You may look at a particular person and think, Well, no angel here. Be careful. You never know!

Do you want God to appear? What if, by being gracious to someone you didn’t think could help you, you got a word that was life changing in return? What an honor! It could happen to you even today.

Excerpted from When God Shows Up (Renew Books, 1998).