Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. (James 1:2–4 NLT)

On your list of things to be thankful for this season, trials may not be in your top ten. Or top one hundred. But God’s Word makes it clear that suffering and adversity are essential for our spiritual growth. And they are evidence of God’s work in our lives.

Adversity keeps us humble. Prosperity and success tend to make people proud and self-sufficient. They don’t pray with the same intensity when their needs are met.

Adversity teaches us eternal truths we would otherwise not learn. For example, it’s human nature to try to avoid pain at all costs. But pain reminds us of a deeper need. Just as hunger pangs remind us that it’s time to eat, adversity can remind us that it’s time to make an important change in our lives.

Adversity gives us a deeper compassion for others in pain. It’s been said, “If you preach to people who are hurting, you will never lack for an audience.” It’s also been said, “Success builds walls; failure builds bridges.” If you say, “Look at how great my life is! I don’t have any problems! Follow me on Instagram! Everything’s perfect!” who can connect with that? But if you talk about your failures, difficulties, and challenges, now you’re speaking the language of real people who live in the real world.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:4–5, “He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ” (NLT). If I could change history, I would choose not to endure the loss of my son. I would bring him back in a heartbeat. But I can say this: God has given me, my wife, and our son a ministry we did not ask for, but a ministry we embrace. It’s a ministry of helping others who’ve lost loved ones.

I don’t want to waste my pain. If I can offer a word of encouragement or hope to someone who’s gone through the worst tragedy imaginable, I’ll seize the opportunity. I’ll tell them that God will be with them through the pain and grief. And I’ll thank God for the ministry opportunity.

It’s easy to give thanks when your health is good, the lights are green, the sky is blue, and the bills are paid. It’s not as easy to give thanks when problems mount. But we must. Psalm 106:1 says, “Praise the Lord! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever!” (NLT). If God ceases to be good, we no longer need to give thanks. But God will always be good, so we must always give thanks.

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We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. (Colossians 1:11–14 NLT)

In this week of Thanksgiving, let’s take time to give thanks for God’s specific blessings in our lives. We’ll start with the greatest gift ever given, the most amazing blessing ever bestowed, and the costliest sacrifice ever offered: salvation. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (NLT).

The gift begins with justification. Romans 5:1–2 says, “Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God” (NIV).

Being justified is a two-part process. The first part involves removing our sin and the punishment for that sin. Think about the things you’ve done and said that you regret or are ashamed of. If you have placed your faith in Jesus, your sins are all forgiven—and forgotten—because of Jesus’ death on the cross. In Hebrews 8:12, God promises His people, “I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins” (nlt). If you’ve asked Christ to forgive you, God will never hold your sins against you again. So there’s no need for us to bring them up again or to beat ourselves up over them. Psalm 103:12 tells us that when God forgives us, He removes “our sins as far from us as the east is from the west” (NLT).

The second part of justification involves God putting His righteousness into our account. Acts 13:38–39 says, “Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who believes in him is made right in God’s sight” (NLT). So, you stand before God today as a righteous person. Because of Christ alone.

God has dropped one lifeline from Heaven for us to come into a relationship with Him. Only Jesus, the Son of God, was uniquely qualified to bridge the gap between a holy God that we’ve all offended and sinful humanity. Jesus died on the cross, in our place. And it was Jesus who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 NLT). Peter put it this way: “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12 NLT).

Jesus finished the work of salvation. Once you believe in Him, you can rest from the weight of sin, and from your fears, forever.

Salvation is a gift so precious that even the angels in Heaven celebrate it. Jesus said, “In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away” (Luke 15:7 NLT).

Let’s celebrate it too. Today, we give thanks to God for His amazing gift of salvation.

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This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. (Romans 13:11–12 NLT)

The setting of Acts 12 is pretty bleak. Peter was in prison, chained to two Roman soldiers. King Herod had already executed James, Peter’s fellow apostle, for his Christian ministry. It was the night before Peter’s trial, where, in all likelihood, he, too, would be found “guilty” and executed. And what was Peter doing in what may have been the last few hours of his life? He was sleeping.

He was probably the only Christian in Jerusalem asleep that night. Everyone else was praying fervently for his release. So why was Peter asleep? Because he trusted in the Lord.

This isn’t the only instance of Peter sleeping in the Bible. In the Garden of Gethsemane, on the night of Jesus’ arrest, Jesus said to Peter, James, and John, “Stay here and keep watch with me” (Matthew 26:38 NLT). Jesus went off to pray, came back, and found them sleeping. “For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!” Jesus said (verse 41 NLT).

Jesus went off again, came back, and found them sleeping again. And then it happened a third time.

In Luke 9, Jesus took the same three men to a mountain to pray. While they were there, Jesus was transfigured. Moses appeared on one side of Him; Elijah appeared on the other. And Peter? “Peter and the others had fallen asleep” (verse 32 NLT).

Peter woke up and “blurted out, ‘Master, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’” (verse 33 NLT). Makes you wonder whether Elijah turned to Jesus and asked, “Who is that? Is he with You?” Or whether Jesus rolled His eyes and said, “Yes, he’s with Me.”

But in Acts 12, Peter slept a good sleep. He was at rest with the peace of God in his heart. And nothing, not even the threat of death, could rob him of that peace. But the time for rest was over. The time for action had come. With the help of an angel, Peter walked out of prison and resumed his ministry.

Paul touched on this theme of a time for rest and a time for action in Romans 13 when he said, “This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed” (verse 11 NLT).

His warning is addressed to all Christians. We need to be wide awake because time is short. We’ve never been closer to the return of Jesus than we are right now.

In our society that’s dependent on sleeping pills and tranquilizers, we can take a lesson from Peter on how to trust God. There’s a time to rest and be at peace with Him. But there’s also a time to wake up, to be bold in our faith. To allow our faith to lead us out of our comfort zone—our sleeping zone.

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Praise the Lord, you angels, you mighty ones who carry out his plans, listening for each of his commands. (Psalm 103:20 NLT)

We live in the natural world, but we coexist with the supernatural world. Our realm is visible, but there’s another realm that’s invisible. And it’s just as real as ours. We have physical bodies, but there are other beings who have spiritual bodies. The Bible refers to them as angels. In fact, it mentions angels more than three hundred times. Angels are real. They move back and forth between Heaven and Earth. They do vital work. And they’re actively involved in the lives of the followers of Jesus Christ.

Angels appear frequently in popular culture, which has led to some misconceptions about their nature and work. Here are a few things we need to understand about these important servants of God.

Some people believe that when you die, you become an angel. They comfort grieving loved ones by saying things like, “God needed another angel in Heaven” or “Now you have an angel looking over your family.” And while that may sound comforting, it’s not true. People do not become angels when they die.

Angels are created beings, completely separate from humans. Colossians 1:15–16 says, “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him” (NLT). Other passages of Scripture suggest that angels are eternal; they never die. Angels are divided into different categories, including the cherubim and the seraphim. But none of them are former humans.

Angels appear as men in Scripture. When I told that to my granddaughters, they weren’t happy. They said, “That’s not fair, Papa.” We often think of angels as feminine. We say, “She’s as pretty as an angel.” We don’t often say, “He’s as handsome as an angel.” But the reality is that when angels show up in the Bible, they appear as men.

When some female followers of Jesus went to Jesus’ tomb after His resurrection, “two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes” (Luke 24:4 NLT)—these “men” were angels. And after Jesus’ disciples saw Jesus ascending to Heaven, “two white-robed men suddenly stood among them” (Acts 1:10 NLT). These angels told Jesus’ disciples that Jesus had been taken to Heaven but that He would return.

Angels fulfill specific God-given responsibilities. They “carry out his plans” (Psalm 103:20 NLT). They could be described as God’s secret agents. Or His SEAL Team 6. They do their job, but they don’t draw attention to themselves.

We probably would be amazed to discover how many times angels have stopped us from doing something we’d regret, gotten us out of tight situations, protected us from harm, or spoken directly to us. Hebrews 1:14 sums up their role this way: “Angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation” (NLT).

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“Why did you beat your donkey those three times?” the angel of the Lord demanded. “Look, I have come to block your way because you are stubbornly resisting me. Three times the donkey saw me and shied away; otherwise, I would certainly have killed you by now and spared the donkey.’” (Numbers 22:32–33 NLT)

One important work of angels is to stop people from doing things God doesn’t want us to do. Obviously, it’s important and serious work, usually done without our realizing it. Sometimes, though, it can take an unexpectedly humorous turn. That’s what happened in the story of Balaam and his donkey found in Numbers 22.

Balaam was sort of a prophet for hire—more P-R-O-F-I-T than P-R-O-P-H-E-T. Balak, the king of Moab, hired him to curse the children of Israel. Balaam set out on his donkey to do the very thing that God didn’t want him to do. So, God dispatched an angel. The angel’s job was to stop Balaam from cursing the people of Israel.

The angel positioned himself in the middle of the road Balaam was traveling and drew his sword. He was prepared to stop the prophet by any means necessary. Balaam’s donkey saw the angel, but the prophet didn’t. The donkey veered off the road into a field.

The prophet beat the donkey until it returned to the road. The angel moved to a narrow part of the road between two vineyard walls. The donkey tried to go around and pinned Balaam’s foot against the wall. Balaam got angry and beat the donkey again.

The angel moved once more to a spot in the road too narrow for the donkey to get around. So the donkey simply lay down. Enraged, Balaam beat the donkey yet again. And that’s when the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth. The ensuing conversation went something like this:

“What have I done to deserve your beating me three times?”

“You made me look like a fool! If I had a sword, I’d kill you!”

“You’ve ridden me all your life. Have I done anything like this before?”

“Well, no.”

Meanwhile, the angel was still standing there, visible to the donkey, invisible to Balaam. He finally made himself visible to Balaam. He said to Balaam, “Why did you beat your donkey those three times? . . . Look, I have come to block your way because you are stubbornly resisting me. Three times the donkey saw me and shied away; otherwise, I would certainly have killed you by now and spared the donkey” (Numbers 22:32–33 NLT). His words must have unnerved Balaam. The prophet realized that the angel had come to stop him from doing something seriously wrong.

What are the takeaway lessons from this story? Number one: Don’t talk to donkeys.

And number two: When God is trying to stop you, don’t keep going in the same direction. How many times have we been headed for destruction when God changed our course by sending an angel to stop us?

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As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!” (Acts 1:10–11 NLT)

You’ve probably been prompted by an angel, whether you realize it or not. More than once, in fact. Based on the number of times they appear to God’s people in the Bible, it seems angels are busy intervening in our lives, giving us the push we need in crucial moments. They may not make themselves known, but they make God’s message known. They speak to us in subtle ways but leave no doubt about what we should do.

The Book of Acts begins with a quick visit from angels. In fact, angels show up all throughout the Book of Acts. But in chapter 1, they appear as Jesus’ apostles stand staring at the sky watching the Lord ascend to Heaven. Luke describes them as “two white-robed men” (verse 10 NLT), but they were almost certainly angels.

Just before He ascended, Jesus instructed His disciples to head for Jerusalem and wait there for the arrival of the Holy Spirit. And then He gave them the Great Commission: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8 NLT).

The angels nudged the disciples to quit sky-gazing and start the journey to Jerusalem. There was important, world-changing work to be done. The angels’ prompt was the kick in the tunic the apostles needed. And after the angels delivered it, they exited the scene. A single encounter was all God ordered.

We find a more individual prompt seven chapters later. “As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, ‘Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza’” (Acts 8:26 NLT). Notice that the angel didn’t give Philip many details. He didn’t tell him what he was supposed to do when he got to the desert. The angel’s job was to tell Philip to go to the desert. Period. And that’s exactly what the angel did.

Philip responded to the prompt and hopped on the southbound desert road. Along the way, he encountered a visiting dignitary from Ethiopia. Philip explained a passage of Scripture from Isaiah to the Ethiopian man, led the man to faith in Jesus, and baptized him. And all this happened because Philip listened to the angel and did what God wanted him to do.

I wonder how many times an angel has prompted me. I can think of several times when I’ve felt directly led to do something, like right now. I need to go to this person and talk to them. I need to take this step of faith. I need to act on this prompt. I have no doubt that those prompts came from an angel sent by God.

—

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“Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.” (2 Kings 6:16–17 NLT)

One of the most awe-inspiring stories about God’s use of angels is found in 2 Kings 6. To fully appreciate the account, some background information is necessary. The king of Syria declared war on Israel. The Syrian king devised secret battle plans with his servants. Unfortunately for him, nothing is secret from the Lord. God supernaturally revealed the king’s battle plans to the prophet Elisha. Elisha, in turn, relayed the plans to the king of Israel. The king of Israel then made the necessary strategic adjustments to thwart Syria’s plans.

After being outmaneuvered one too many times, the king of Syria began to suspect that an Israelite spy had infiltrated his inner circle. But then he received word about what Elisha was doing. The Syrian king learned that Elisha was staying in the town of Dothan. He sent an enormous army to surround Dothan. He intended to make Elisha pay for his God-assisted espionage.

The scene that plays out starting in verse 14 is almost comic. Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, gets up early in the morning while his master is still sleeping and walks outside to begin his day. What he sees blows his mind and shakes him to his core. The entire city is surrounded by Syrian troops and instruments of war. And Gehazi knows why they’re there.

So, while Elisha is trying to get a little shut-eye, Gehazi starts freaking out. He wakes the sleeping prophet and says something to the effect of, “Master! Master! We’re surrounded by our enemies! What are we going to do?”

Elisha did not panic when he heard the news. In fact, he was probably a little irritated that his sleep was interrupted.

“Don’t be afraid,” he told his servant. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” (verse 16 NLT). Obviously, that math didn’t make sense to Gehazi. Because he was assessing the situation based on what he could see physically.

Elisha asked God to sharpen Gehazi’s vision, to reveal what was invisible to the servant, so that he could have a more accurate sense of the situation. “The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire” (verse 17 NLT). Gehazi saw an invisible army of angels, ready to go to battle at God’s command.

Jesus alluded to a similar invisible army when he rebuked Peter for trying to “save” Him from being arrested. “Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?” (Matthew 26:53 NLT).

Angels have our backs. They stand ready to support us whenever God commands. So when you feel alone, anxious, or outnumbered, pray as Elisha did. Ask God to make you aware of the invisible army that surrounds and protects you.

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Praise the Lord, you angels, you mighty ones who carry out his plans, listening for each of his commands. (Psalm 103:20 NLT)

We live in the natural world, but we coexist with the supernatural world. Our realm is visible, but there’s another realm that’s invisible. And it’s just as real as ours. We have physical bodies, but there are other beings who have spiritual bodies. The Bible refers to them as angels. In fact, it mentions angels more than three hundred times. Angels are real. They move back and forth between Heaven and Earth. They do vital work. And they’re actively involved in the lives of the followers of Jesus Christ.

Angels appear frequently in popular culture, which has led to some misconceptions about their nature and work. Here are a few things we need to understand about these important servants of God.

Some people believe that when you die, you become an angel. They comfort grieving loved ones by saying things like, “God needed another angel in Heaven” or “Now you have an angel looking over your family.” And while that may sound comforting, it’s not true. People do not become angels when they die.

Angels are created beings, completely separate from humans. Colossians 1:15–16 says, “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him” (NLT). Other passages of Scripture suggest that angels are eternal; they never die. Angels are divided into different categories, including the cherubim and the seraphim. But none of them are former humans.

Angels appear as men in Scripture. When I told that to my granddaughters, they weren’t happy. They said, “That’s not fair, Papa.” We often think of angels as feminine. We say, “She’s as pretty as an angel.” We don’t often say, “He’s as handsome as an angel.” But the reality is that when angels show up in the Bible, they appear as men.

When some female followers of Jesus went to Jesus’ tomb after His resurrection, “two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes” (Luke 24:4 NLT)—these “men” were angels. And after Jesus’ disciples saw Jesus ascending to Heaven, “two white-robed men suddenly stood among them” (Acts 1:10 NLT). These angels told Jesus’ disciples that Jesus had been taken to Heaven but that He would return.

Angels fulfill specific God-given responsibilities. They “carry out his plans” (Psalm 103:20 NLT). They could be described as God’s secret agents. Or His SEAL Team 6. They do their job, but they don’t draw attention to themselves.

We probably would be amazed to discover how many times angels have stopped us from doing something we’d regret, gotten us out of tight situations, protected us from harm, or spoken directly to us. Hebrews 1:14 sums up their role this way: “Angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation” (NLT).

—

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