Angels of Humility: A Novel (4 page)

“Let me explain, Sarah. There’s the visible, tangible world around us that we can all see, like the furniture here and the trees and grass. However, overlaying this natural realm is a spiritual realm that few people can actually see, but it’s more real than the visible realm that is decaying and passing away. God is the creator of both realms. Remember the day I came to visit you? There were demons in the house that were assigned to take your life. When I walked in, my spirit sensed their presence. I started praying, and when you gave your life to the Lord they eventually left.”

“I didn’t exactly know they were demons,” she said, “but I know my whole house feels lighter.” She let out a deep sigh, “It sure feels like a burden has been lifted off me.”

“You were being oppressed by the dark side of the spirit world. Ephesians 6:12 says,
‘For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against…the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.’
That’s just another way of saying that
the visible, tangible world and the people in it aren’t the real problem. It’s the spirits motivating them who are the problem.”

“Ephesians 6:12,” said Sarah as she scribbled in her notebook.

“One way we fight back is through prayer. Your prayers release spiritual power to defeat the enemy in the spiritual realm. Then you see the breakthrough in the natural realm. First in the spiritual, then in the natural.”

“Wow, I’ve got a lot to learn,” said Sarah. “I’d never even heard the stories you read from the Bible on Sunday.”

“Well, Sarah,” said Pastor Hall standing up, “It’s never too late to learn, and I commit that I will pray that you would grow exponentially in the things of the Lord and be a great hindrance to the devil’s kingdom. Even after I move, I’ll keep praying for you. And let me give you this book on humility. I give copies to every new believer. It’s a great way to start your Christian life. The Bible says that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
¹⁷
I want grace and grace and more grace in my life. The thought of God actively resisting me is terrifying.”

He shook her hand and Sarah managed to thank him, but she was so overwhelmed at his commitment to pray for her that she was crying by the time she got to her car. Just knowing that a seasoned Christian would be praying for her helped her feel less overwhelmed.

She read most of the book on humility that week and only missed having her prayer time one morning. The next week at their meeting, Sarah had more questions ready for Pastor Hall, especially about pride.

“Well,” said Pastor Hall, “I’m glad you’re interested. Most Christians don’t fight against pride or understand enough about humility to earnestly desire it. That’s a tragedy because if we humble ourselves, God promises to exalt us!
¹⁸
Pride is one of the most deadly forces at Satan’s disposal, and he uses it very effectively against us.”

“That’s exactly what the book said. It sounded like God takes these areas seriously,” said Sarah with her eyes wide. Pastor Hall chuckled.

“Yes, He does—very seriously.”

Sarah, flipped to one of the dog-eared pages. “It says that ‘humility is the God-given confidence that does away with the need to prove to others how worthy you are, and the correctness of your actions. It gives the freedom to be who you were created by God to be, and to accomplish what God has for you to do—because you completely agree with Him.’”

“That’s a great definition! I totally agree. We need to perform before an audience of One,” he said pointing upward. Sarah nodded as that truth sunk in. “God has given each of us a different mix of spiritual and natural gifts. It’s humility when we accept what we are given and use these giftings as God planned. Don’t covet what other’s have. It will throw you off of God’s path for your life. You’ll only be judged on what God gave you and the specific purposes that He called you to do.”

“What do you mean, ‘I’ll be judged on what God gives me’?”

“When Christians die, their lives are judged and they are given rewards for their faithfulness or they
‘suffer loss’
for their lack of obedience.
¹⁹
They all get to Heaven, but the Bible speaks many times about eternal rewards and being faithful with what we’re given.
²⁰
Develop your spiritual gifts. You entered the Kingdom late in life Sarah, so be diligent to give the Lord your time and your energy; make Him your priority above all distractions. When you get to Heaven and you really understand God’s great love for you and the amazing sacrifice He made for you, you’ll be grateful that you did.”

“Do I really have spiritual gifts? I don’t know what they are.”

“Your spiritual gifts were picked especially for you by the Lord. You can understand your true destiny better when you function in your gifts. It helps you know who God created you to be and what He desires for you to do. There’s a list in the last chapter of the book I gave you. Go home and read it. Pray and see if the Lord highlights anything to you.”

At home Sarah read the descriptions of pastor/teacher, prophet, evangelist, apostle, administrator, leadership, faith, knowledge, wisdom, exhortation, discernment, ministering, service, giving, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, miracles, healings, mercy, and hospitality.
²¹

She faithfully prayed over the list. “I can’t wait to meet with Pastor Hall next week. I’ve got so much to learn.”

Pastor Hall retired two months after their last meeting, and he and his wife left Bradbury for Texas to care for his aged mother. But he was faithful to remember to pray for Sarah regularly.

The church board had called Paul Reynolds as interim to the little white chapel with the beautiful stained glass windows. With seminary graduation under his belt for less than a week, Paul had felt very grateful and relieved to be selected.

It was his first time preaching at Bradbury. Paul always started his sermons with a joke. “A woman calls her husband on his cell phone. He’s driving in his car; ‘Honey I want you to be very careful. I just heard on the radio that there’s someone driving the wrong way down Old Highway 3.’

“‘One?’ the husband replies, ‘There’s
hundreds
of them!’”

The congregation roared with appreciative laughter. Paul let out a deep sigh of relief and ran his fingers through his perfectly coiffed, jet-black hair. At 6’2”, with a natural athletic build—wearing his best and only suit—he presented a good first impression.

Maybe they’ll like me. Maybe they’ll call me as their pastor
.

“Relax,” said Saldu, to Paul’s spirit. Paul’s radiant guardian angel was standing in the pulpit directly behind him. “The service isn’t about you. It’s about glorifying your wonderful savior and Lord. Take your mind off your performance. Empty yourself and He’ll fill you. Then you’ll have truth and life to share.”

Shifting his weight from his left to his right foot and back again, like he always did when he had too much nervous energy, he began again, “I’m happy to be here today serving as your interim pastor. I’d like to introduce my better half. Kathy, will you stand please?” A petite brunette with curly hair, wearing a denim jumper, stood from the second row and gave the crowd a big smile and a wave.

“Jordan is 2 years old, and he is in the nursery. I speak for all of us when I say we look forward to getting to know all of you and serving with you here at the Victory Church of Bradbury, Missouri.”

At least I’ll be employed until the search committee calls someone else
. At the very least, he hoped they would be committee-typical and take six months making up their minds. That would give him time to get something else lined up. He had student loans up to his eyebrows, even though Kathy had worked until she was very pregnant with Jordan.

However, deep in his heart he was hoping to be the one, hoping to wow them with all the knowledge he’d gleaned from 89 graduate hours, not to mention his ability to read Hebrew and Greek. God, he silently prayed,
If this is Your will, I’d be so glad
.

At the back door shaking hands after the sermon, Paul tried every memory trick he knew to remember people’s names. He pictured an outhouse floating in the ocean when he met John Seas. Angela Carver became an angel sculpting a big piece of cheese. Sarah Edwards was easy; her name was the same as the wife of his hero, the fiery evangelist, Jonathan Edwards.

For ten full minutes Paul basked in the adoration and compliments as the church members filed by shaking hands on the way to their Sunday dinners.

“Great sermon, pastor.”

“I enjoyed that a lot.”

“I never knew the meaning of that one word in Greek; that’s very interesting.”

If Kathy and Paul could have seen into the spirit world, they would have fainted at the sight of two tall, muscular angels with angular, chiseled features accompanying them to their small Toyota. Valoe had long blond hair and Saldu, brown. Their glistening white robes were girded at the waist with a belt of truth. Their enormous gossamer wings were folded behind them. After being in the throne room from eternity past, they literally glowed with celestial resurrection power. Hael, Jordan’s plump, jovial guardian angel, was waiting to get in the back next to Jordan’s car seat. Valoe and Saldu would fly along beside the small car. Even though these guardians had been with them for years, neither Paul nor Kathy were aware of their presence.

The minute Kathy and Paul were in their car, before the key was even in the ignition, Paul turned to Kathy and asked, “Well?”

“Well, what?”

“What do you mean ‘well what’? How’d I do? What did you hear from the people?”

Kathy rolled her eyes, “Just the same things you did when we were standing together in the back.”

“I know what they said, but what did they
really
think? Did they seem to like it? Did they follow along?”

“You did fine, honey. The sermon was very good; you know it’s one of my favorites.”

“Were they nodding? What did their body language tell you?”

“Honey, I was sitting on the second row. All I could see was you!” She patted his shoulder. “Take a deep breath and relax; you did fine.”

“Kathy, I’ve got a good feeling about this,” he said, as he eased the car onto the blacktop road and back toward town. “I think this might be God. I can see us settling here. I can see Jordan growing up here. I can see me taking this church from 60 members to 300, and I know you think the parsonage is charming.”

“After the seminary dorm, living in a department store dressing room would be charming.”

“No, I’m serious; I think we have a future here. I have a good feeling about this. It has potential. It feels like it might fit.”

“Honey, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but you’ve got your cart way out before your horse. Relax and let God bring it about, if it’s even Him. If it’s not, He has something else. Just don’t force it.”

“Listen to your wife,” said Saldu. “Realize the magnitude of your heavenly Father’s love for you. If you humble yourself, you can get filled to overflowing with love and acceptance from Him every day. Now your insecurities cause you to crave affirmation from people. You’re looking in the wrong place.”

“Yes,” said Valoe, “God’s love truly satisfies. You could spill the excess over on Kathy and Jordan and the needy people around you. Instead you try to accumulate compliments to fill the bottomless dark pit in your soul. Without humility there can be no spiritual power, intimacy with God, or favor of God on your life.”

Their 1993 Toyota stopped in the parsonage driveway. The engine dieseled for a few seconds after the key turned off and finally sputtered to a stop. Kathy shook her head.

“This car! It won’t start when we want, and now it won’t stop, either. Maybe it’s demon possessed.”

“Later this afternoon I’ll get some anointing oil, or maybe some 10W40,” said Paul chuckling, “and see if I can exorcise anything from the starter.”

This caused Kathy to chuckle. She shook her head and then squeezed his arm.

Paul gathered Jordan out of the car seat and carried him up the cracked sidewalk, past the overgrown evergreen bushes, and to the front door of the small Tudor-style house. Brown paint was peeling off the wood trim and shutters.

“I can’t get this lock to open. I’m jiggling it like Mike told me to,” said Kathy.

“Here, honey, let me,” he said, passing off Jordan to her arms. “Insert the key then pull it back just a little, then jiggle. See, it opens every time. Ah, home sweet home.”

“Home sweet
temporary
home,” she corrected.
Dear Lord, don’t let him get his heart set on anything that isn’t You. He’s 26 years old, and his diploma isn’t even framed yet. We’re at the beginning of the beginning of our ministry, and we need Your guidance
.