Month: December 2024

“Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit said to Philip, “Go and join up with that chariot.”

Acts 8:28-29.  (NAB)

An angel spoke to Philip, telling him to go down the road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza. As Philip headed down that road, he noticed a royal chariot. The Eunuch riding in it was the treasurer for the Queen of Ethiopia, and he was reading scripture from the prophet Isaiah while he was riding. 

The Holy Spirit told Philip to run up to the chariot. Philip ran to catch up to him and when he came alongside him, he asked if he understood what he was reading. The eunuch immediately invited Philip to join him and explain Isaiah’s writing to him. Philip began to share his faith, teaching him how the many prophecies of Isaiah, pointed to the Messiah, who was in fact, Jesus. 

During that brief ride, the Ethiopian man believed and asked to be baptized, so they stopped the chariot by a body of water, and Philip baptized Him. Afterward, they went their separate ways, and never saw each other again. 

Sometimes God changes our course and we end up somewhere we never planned to be. He may lead us to meet someone for a brief time, for a special purpose. I had an experience like this many years ago, when I was visiting a Vineyard church in the area. Someone invited me to attend an Alpha group meeting taking place in the home of a church member. 

I went to the Alpha meeting and met a lady there, who was also a first time visitor, named Teddy. I found out she lived only two blocks away from me, and we became friends. I would routinely pick her up and bring her to church services and Alpha meetings. Teddy had a serious health problem at the time, but was searching for meaning and hope in her life. When I met her, she was in remission from colon cancer but had recently learned that the cancer spread to her liver. 

For several months, we spent many good times together, going to church services, church group meetings, and even dancing together in Greek town on weekends. I saw Teddy transform, spiritually, as she found peace and strength through a deeper relationship with Jesus. Her faith upheld her through her chemo treatments and all the ups and downs of that difficult period in her life. 

It was a very brief friendship because the cancer in her liver quickly progressed and she passed away within the year that I met her. 

I think about our short but vibrant friendship, and how her faith deepened during that time. That friendship was my “chariot” experience, because I felt like I jumped into Teddy’s chariot and took a short ride with her. I had a small part in helping her during a difficult stage in her life journey. 

What she really needed and longed for at that time in her life was satisfied through her relationship with Jesus, and she found an inner peace to help her continue her journey, until the day she was called into His loving arms. 

Whatever chariot God leads us to climb into, is always in sync with His perfect timing and purpose. Just as Phillip was sent to join a chariot with a stranger from a completely foreign land, the Holy Spirit may send us to a place we didn’t expect to go. It might turn out to be a chariot ride of faith, that changes someone’s life.

Lord, help us to be available to join the chariots you send us to, so that we may encourage someone’s faith, at a crucial time in their lives. Amen

“I thank my God every time I remember you.”

Philippians 1:3 (NIV)

The words in this scripture can be said about many friends or loved ones, who have impacted our lives at some time, in a special way, whether they are still living or not. 

Today, I am remembering my friend Michelle, who left this world way too soon. We worked together for many years and became friends, even though she was young enough to be my daughter. Wherever I look in my home today, I can see the things that Michelle hand made and gave to me as gifts over the years that I knew her. 

She was a talented craftsperson and her handiwork is in every corner of my home, from the bedazzled glass case where I keep my reading glasses, to the holiday wreaths I hang on my front door, to the many pairs of earrings in my jewelry box, and even the crocheted hat and scarf that I wear on these cold winter days. 

Wherever I look, I see signs of her creativity, which reminds me of our friendship, and the twelve years we worked together. 

I can never forget a true story that Michelle once shared with me, that stands out above all else. She was at a gas station one day, pumping gas in her car, when she noticed a man choking in the car next to her. She rushed over, and took action, by  bringing him out of his car and doing the Heimlich maneuver on him, which saved his life. Naturally, the man was very grateful and I never forgot that story since the day she shared it with me. 

Sadly, Michelle couldn’t save herself, when she was unable to breathe from a blood clot which infiltrated her lung, over a year ago. She had trouble breathing and called her sister, who quickly drove to her house to bring her to the hospital, but it was too late, because Michelle collapsed walking outside her front door. 

Paramedics tried to resuscitate her, but she passed away in the nearby Emergency room. She was only 44, and it’s heart breaking to lose such a young friend, who was kind, creative, generous and had a great sense of humor. Anyone who knew Michelle, knew her special love for all babies, children and animals. I still miss her, knowing she had so much more to live for. 

The man she saved at that gas station, may never know of her fate, but he is probably still sharing the story of how a woman, who was a total stranger, saved his life one day, when he was choking. 

I believe that angels surround all of us every day, and they may spare us unknowingly from danger, accidents and tragedies, through their divine intervention. In some instances, the angels that God sends to us are just people, who are at the right place at the right time, reacting to a person’s desperate need, doing whatever it takes to save their life. Michelle was definitely someone’s angel that day at that gas station. 

There is so much we will never have answers for in this lifetime, since God’s thoughts and His ways are nothing like ours. I’m sure each person cherishes the memory of someone who was like an angel in their life, who they still thank God for, every time they remember them.

We are meant to keep living our lives with faith and hope, while keeping the memories alive of all those who have blessed us. We celebrate their life instead of dwelling on the timing or circumstances of their death. I believe we are all meant to become somebody’s angel at some time. 

It’s  good to be aware and prepare ourselves for the day that God may send us to help someone at the right time and place. Not everyone will save a life physically, but we may be called upon to give some type of spiritual or emotional support, and to become somebody’s angel, at a providential moment in time. In honor of all those who have been like angels in our lives, we open our hearts to do the same for someone else, someday, in some way.

Lord, instead of looking for answers to the unexplained sorrows in this world, help us to make the world a better place by acting on the opportunity to become somebody’s angel. Amen