04/21/2024
Friday morning started very early like every other morning for me, my days begin with prayer, reading scripture, a devotional, and then with the Holy Spirit moving over me, I write this devotional you are reading now, which I share across the country and around the world. Little did I know that three days later I would be sharing something wonderful with a brother in Christ that I had met a few years ago through a friend who had asked if I would send him my morning devotional messages, someone that to this day I have not met personally. I had no idea that this dear brother would share something with me on Friday, that I would meet an Angel on Saturday, or that the Spirit would ask me to deliver this Angel’s message to my brother today, Sunday morning.
On Friday morning my friend read my morning’s devotional, and then texted me that he had trouble praying to God the Father because it made him think of trying to talk with his earthly father, and that this was hard to do because he felt distanced from him. He then asked what I would suggest to someone like him.
I hadn’t been asked this question before, but responded…
“Maybe you could block the father metaphor at first and pray to Him as God only… then ask God to help you overcome the issue you are having with your earthly father. Something tells me that once you resolve your issues with your earthly father then you will be able to transition to thinking of God as your Heavenly Father.”
He thanked me for this counsel, and then asked me a second and more difficult question “How do you resolve issues with someone who continues to behave without regard for you?” Not knowing him personally, nor his father, I was at a loss as to how I should respond to this.
The next day was Saturday, and after completing my morning hours of devotion I took my pickup truck to the carwash for a good cleaning, and something incredible happened there… I met a man that began to quote scripture to me. Now a day later, Sunday morning, my morning prayers kept being interrupted by the remembrance of this man, his appearance, demeanor, and his bold recitation of scripture.
As hard as I tried to reenter my prayers I could not until finally the Spirit revealed to me that this was a message for my friend, and that I was to deliver it to him NOW. So I left my prayers this morning and said “Here am I Father”, following which I texted my friend the following account of my Saturday morning with an Angel.
“_____, Yesterday I was at the car wash where I was drying and vacuuming my truck. There were no drying towels at the station where I was but I had a rag in my truck and was using it. I dried the driver’s side and was moving across the tailgate when I noticed a plastic carrying case with cleaning supplies on the ground. It belonged to the man in the station next to me.
I looked over at him and he was a tall black man with greying hair and beard. So I said to him that it was a shame that there were no drying towels provided for us at the stations. He looked at me and then told me where they were stored… pointing at a box near the building that housed the office.
I thanked him as he gathered up his things and got into his car. I was now drying the side of my truck that was parallel to his car, and as I came near his open driver’s window he asked me a question: he asked “Do you have children?” To which I responded yes, and he looked me in the eyes and started quoting a scripture that I was more than familiar with; he said…
“And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”“
Luke 11:9-13 ESV
I stood there looking at him as he forcefully quoted the scripture, and when he was through he asked me “Do you believe in God?” To which I replied yes, and told him that I even wrote a devotional every morning after praying. At this he sat quiet for a moment and I said “You might like reading it. You can reach it at www.richinpraise.com” he smiled and said… “I like that title.” And then said “God Bless you” and pulled away.
I finished drying my truck and went home myself… still thinking of this encounter.
This morning as I was praying I kept remembering the greying man and the scripture that he quoted so boldly to me. I was impressed with the fact that this man might have been an angel that I had entertained in unawares, and as I prayed on, it came to me that the scripture wasn’t for me… it was as for you. Every hair on my body stood up as the Spirit came over me.
So, I hope this angel’s words will become more than just a scripture you have read many times before, but a direct Word from God intended just for you, and that whenever you pass a carwash, or see an older black man with a touch of grey in his hair and beard, and a commanding presence, that you will be reminded that God wants to be your Father in a way that far exceeds anything your earthly father could have ever been.”
God is indeed our Heavenly Father, and if we have an earthly father that is abusive, or uncaring, we should always remember that our Heavenly father isn’t the image of that earthly father… no, He is so much more that. Even the absolute best earthly father can’t hold a candle to our Father in Heaven, nor can his evil acts cast a shadow on God our Father.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for your unparalleled love and kindness. Thank you Father for every good thing you provide, and for teaching us through the example of earthly fathers how much more, and just how perfect you are. Help us Father when Satan whispers in our ear that you are like the earthly man who has fathered us, because you are our one true Father, and no matter how good or bad our earthly biological father is, he falls far short of you. Even when we are hurt or disappointed by our earthly fathers, we turn to you Lord because we know that you are near to our broken hearts, and save our crushed spirits. In you Father we find an untainted and undiminished love for your children that is eternal. Though earthly fathers can be absent, thoughtless, or cruel, you are loving, know us, and are with us, always. Teach us to be good fathers Abba, and to treat our children as you treat us… with mercy, love, and grace.
Send Angels Lord to hover about us as they protect and deliver your messages to us. Help us to recognize them when they come, and to do your will when they deliver it to us. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God and our Heavenly Father who loves and cares for us beyond all measure, and throughout eternity. Give us understanding through your Spirit, and be a Loving Father for the fatherless amongst us. Great are you Father, and blessed be your name.
“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!””
Romans 8:15 ESV
“Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the Lord; exult before him! Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.”
Psalm 68:4-5 ESV
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Amen!
Rich Forbes