“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” Ephesians 5.15-17
This summer something very interesting happened to me. A wonderful family joined us at youth camp who have unique spiritual gifts. The father is a pastor, the mother and daughter are very spiritually sensitive and have the gift of “spiritual sight.” (Being able to see beings in the spiritual realm). I’ve head of these gifts before but when confronted with them, I immediately begin to pray, discern, and seek if they hold up to Scripture and my experience. And they did.
But one significant occurrence was the mention of a guardian angel that the daughter said she saw entering a very holy and consecrated prayer space. We had already pray and anointed the space and after the prayer time, she told her mother and me that they saw several angels coming into the room as we prayed, and a particular guardian angel named “Wisdom” who was a giant, standing over me. (I had already evidenced several prophetic from the daughter which I had verified the previous days. So although I was surprised, I was not shocked by her revelation.)
Now you may not believe it or you may in faith receive this word. That is up to you. Regardless, I felt the assurance that angels are just as present now as they were throughout Scripture (in which they are mentioned hundreds of times.) I also felt reassurance from the Lord that he had indeed sent angels among us, and over me specifically, as I helped lead over 400 campers before the Presence of Jesus. We were doing spiritual battle for the Lord. Why wouldn’t he send helpful messengers to help us fight the good fight of saving souls and setting people free from sin and death? (If you want to discuss this more pls email me at [email protected] or text me at 830-220-4696.) I took two “take always” from this time at camp — 1) God sent an angel to watch over me (and others), and 2) the identifying nature of this angel was “wisdom.”
Now how does this relate to Ephesians 5? Verses 15-17 say, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” Paul says be careful how you live, not as unwise but wise. He could have said, be careful to be faithful, or just, or righteous (which he does say in other parts of Scripture, but not here.) Here he says, “live wisely.” Since the identifying characteristic of the angel who was standing guard over me was wisdom, I began to think of him as “Big Wisdom.”
Why would God want me to be wise? Why would he communicate this message to me? I do not think of myself as wise. Sometimes I have a few wise words of advice, but when I think of someone being wise — it’s not me! But perhaps in that moment, as in this, God wants me to be wise — thoughtful, careful, prayerful, obedient and submissive to his plan and his purpose. He wants us to be wise because “the days are evil.” And we are obey his words, we will not be foolish (v.17) but “understand what the Lord’s will is.”
How do we know the will of Lord? How do we understand his plan? We read, listen, seek, and strive to make Christ the center. Just as God sent an angel to Mary to comfort her at the moment of her greatest assignment, so God sends angels to us, messengers or send a message — be wise, love God, live by the Spirit.
One of my favorite websites is gotquestions.org. I encourage you to go there and type in “angels,” or “where are angels mentioned in Scripture?” I think you will be amazed by how often God sends these created-heavenly-beings to created-earthly-beings, to offer us strength and support in our time of need.
“O Lord God, you are good. I seek to walk by faith, to trust that you are leading me. I am thankful for the presence of your Spirit and of angels all around us. Help us fight the good fight! To finish the race. I trust you Lord and your Word. Come now, Holy Spirit, send your Presence among us. Help us know the truth of your love and that the Kingdom of God is among us. For you are good and your love endures forever.” Amen