THE PRAYING MANTIS AND THE
ANGEL
I looked out onto the patio and saw
something strange going on. My cat, Snowy, was slowly backing up, ears
flattened against his head and shackles up. His teeth were snarling and he was
hissing. Something was scaring him and making him back off.
I opened the sliding glass door and
went out slowly, expecting to see some big stray cat or dog ready to attack.
What I saw was something quite different.
It was only a 2 inch praying mantis
with its colorful, frightfully angular wings spread out wide like a mantle over
her. She looked ferocious and she was running full speed toward Snowy! They
don’t often show their wings. It’s like their secret weapon and apparently it
works well. Snowy turned tail and scurried into the house through the opened
patio door!
Sometimes the angels act in a
similar way, to be our secret weapons. A few years back, I was having a
particularly hard time at work and I felt weakened. I looked up the scripture
in Psalm 103:20 “Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do
his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.” I prayed they would
go to my work ahead of me and help me there.
When I got to work, I went upstairs
to the open loft where we did our painting. Around the edge was a three-foot
wooden railing. I could see in the spirit a very large angel sitting
comfortably on the corner. His wings spread out to each side along the edge of
my work space. I felt protected and strong. This went on every day for several
months until I moved to a new work location, where it seemed I didn’t need the
added protection any more.
Every year my garden is visited by
praying mantis so I’ve had plenty of opportunities to observe them, but only
once did I see one spread its wings out like when it chased my cat across the
patio.
Like the mantis, we don’t always go
around showing off our stuff, but when it becomes necessary, we certainly have
our secret weapons. One of them is the privilege to pray for the Lord to send angels.
They are loosed in heaven and according to Hebrews 1:14 and Matthew 4:11 they
minister to us and for us. Most of the time we don’t
even know they’re there but they are strong to protect us and can back off
danger.
Love, Carolyn
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