Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, spoke the Lord’s word to the people: “I am with you!” says the Lord. (Haggai 1:13)
I was on walkabout, as it’s called in Africa. The goal was a knobby peak about three hundred meters high. After climbing to the top, I tried a different route home. Hours later, I was lost. The last of my water was gone, and I slumped under a flat topped msasa tree.
“Lord, I can’t walk anymore. Where are you when I need you?”
I didn’t see where he came from, but a native smiled at me. He spoke no English, I spoke no Shona. He waited as though he wanted me to follow, so I rose and we walked together.
The circular logo on his hat read, “The Voice of God.” I pointed to the hat and asked about his faith. He raised a finger heavenward and grinned.
For many kilometers we shared unspoken camaraderie, as his pace encouraged mine.
The word angel means messenger of, or speaker for, God. Was that the same as the voice of God? It was time to get bold.
“I suppose you’re an angel sent to help me, but you’re not allowed to tell me?”
He smiled.
After the turn that put me on the right path, my new friend waved, swished into the savannah grass, and I saw him no more. We may not have been from the same species—his possibly being angelic—but I felt an overwhelming sense of fellowship with God’s own. I knew the Lord was with me.
Everyplace dirt holds believers up, God sends out his message, “I will never leave you and I will never abandon you” (Hebrews 13:5). Sometimes he uses angels, at other times it’s a song, or Bible verse, but the message is always the same, “I am with you.”
Prayer: Lord, thank you for your nearness.