Five. That is the number of times that God sent an angel to Mary and Joseph. And every time, they said yes and did what the angel said. What if even once they didn’t say yes?
Let’s say that Mary didn’t say yes to the angel Gabriel, about having Jesus. Well, of course, there’d be no Jesus. If Joseph didn’t take her in? There’d be nobody around to save the family from Herod, which was the next angel’s visit. And once they are in Egypt, what if Joseph doesn’t go back home? Jesus would never have learned and lived the traditions of the history of Israel – he could never have accomplished his mission. And finally, when it was time to dodge another nasty leader, Joseph said yes, which could have again meant death for Jesus.
I think that God sends His angels at very important times to clarify the message, when He is going to do soemthing great with us. It’s a great idea to say, “yes” to angels.
Back in May, I stopped by a small religious community to spend a little time in rest. It had been a very busy 5 months or more, and I was exhausted. I had just finished one trip to the community San Isidro for earthquake relief. Now, a friend was talking about going again. I was tired.
The folks in the community asked me to help them out with their nighttime prayers, and that meant for me to go to the chapel from 2 to 3 in the morning. So much for the rest. As I was in there, amid my sleepy fogginess, I started to pray. I presented my case to God that I was tired and really would rather not make another trip to San Isidro, because it takes a lot out of me, and so on. I finally finished saying all I needed to say, and I looked at my watch – it was exactly 3am, time to go back to bed. As soon as I looked back up from my watch, the room began to wobble, first a little, and then more and more. And then stronger and stronger, and finally a few good jerks as everything in the wooden/bamboo chapel was moving back and forth. I thought, “OK, now it’s time to run!” I got up and ran out of the chapel as fast as I could, and met up with the others who had come out as well into the night. From then on, it was clear to me: “Jerome, go to San Isidro.” I knew in my heart I needed to go.
Well, now I am back and spending a few months in San Isidro. Not only was another $10,000 worth of goods given to the people because of that visit, it opened the door for me to come back and spend this time, as well as open up other relationships between my home state of Massachusetts and here. Another large funding opportunity may be coming soon, and an even much larger one later on down the line. Some people back in Massachusetts want to make more of a connection, and there’s always the possibility of me staying longer. It looks like God wanted to do something special, and needed me to say yes.
God needs us to do the great things that He wants to do. And when it’s decision time, I believe He sends an angel to clarify the message. If you want my advice, I would say this:
Say “yes” to the angels.
“Joseph … did as the angel of the Lord told him.” (Mt 1:24)
ALM 