I used to sing my kids to sleep and one of their favorites was this: “All night, all day, angels watching over me, My Lord. All night, all day, angels watching over me.” Do angels watch over all of us?
They certainly did watch over Jesus. Even before Jesus is born, an angel makes sure there is an earthly father, Joseph, on hand to care for him and his mother. Every step of the way this fragile child and his vulnerable parents are shielded by guardian angels. An angel warns them to flee to Egypt in the middle of the night when King Herod sends his soldiers to kill the child….an angel sounds the “all clear” two years later it’s safe to return.
Jesus himself has something to say to this question about guardian angels:
“See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.” Matthew 18:10
In this passage, Jesus starts out by referring to children as these “little ones.” You might think only children were involved, were it not for what follows: the story of the shepherd leaving his 99 sheep to search for just one lost one who has gone astray. It’s hard to imagine only children in view here. Indeed, most biblical scholars have concluded that “little ones” are any who are weak, vulnerable or who have wandered away. Who might this be today?
- People weak or half-hearted in their devotion to God
- People slowly losing a grip on their faith
- Spiritually searching people, who are “looking for God in all the wrong places”
- People who treat God with indifference
- People the world sees as insignificant—the mentally weak, the sick and aged, the handicapped, the battered persons, the lonely, the dying
The fact is this—we all are like lost sheep and wander away from God sometimes. Many of us can look back and recognize those times in our lives when we were wandering astray, far from God. Others of us may be going through such a time right now—we feel lost and far from God. And others of us know someone else who is a “little one”—someone wandering away from God, often without even realizing it. The good news is the Creator God of this universe has a special place in his heart for “little ones.”
- If you’re wandering, he’ll go in search of you.
- If you’re lost, he’ll seek you out.
- If you feel far away, he’ll pursue you.
I can’t claim that all of us have angels watching over us, as the infant Jesus certainly did …But I am sure the Lord of this Universe is focused on all the “little ones,” even if they don’t realize it themselves yet.
If you are feeling lost or far away from God (or know someone else feeling these ways), take heart! There may be an angel watching over you.
