You watch the walls and feel the ground tremble under all you have laboured to build, and your heart cries out for mighty help, for angels sent to stand between your home and every evil. And do you know, I think the Lord does not chide that cry, for He Himself has told us that He gives His angels charge over His own, to keep them in all their ways. Not in some of their ways, not only in the smooth and sunny paths, but in the ways that crack beneath your feet, in the nights when no star shines, in the hour when you have nothing left to lean upon but a promise you can barely whisper. It is then, beloved, that the invisible escort closest attends you. You do not see them, neither did the servant of Elisha until his eyes were opened, but they are there, as surely as the throne of grace stands open this very moment.
Yet let me draw your eye past the angels themselves, bright as they are, for they are but the lantern-bearers: it is to the Master of the house you must look. We make a sad mistake when we fix our hope upon the servant rather than upon the Lord who sends him. Your property, your roof, the dear ones who sleep beneath it, these are not kept by an angelic guard acting on its own, but by Him who holds the angels in His hand as a man holds a coal in the tongs. He it is who said, “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.” The One who once stilled the tempest on Galilee has not forgotten how to say “Peace, be still” to whatever threatens you now. He does not need to rouse Himself from slumber; He has been watching all along.
I am drawn to think of that poor boat on the lake, tossed with waves and filling fast, while the disciples strained at the oars and saw nothing but the foam. They thought themselves forsaken; they thought the winds were free to do their worst. But Christ was there, and at the right hour He arose and spoke, and the sea fell flat before Him. Your trial seems to you a thing let loose, a catastrophe without a bridle. It is not so. Not a timber shifts, not a stone sinks an inch, but He sees it, weighs it, and will overrule it for your good and His glory. If He permits loss, it will be gain disguised in a black envelope. If He sends deliverance, and oh how I pray He shall, you will know it came from His own pierced hand.
And what of the angels you asked for? They are not idle. They are not yonder on the sea of glass, strumming their harps with a cold indifference to the children of dust. They have sympathy with us in this heavy-laden boat. They delight to serve the heirs of salvation. I cannot promise you a visible flash of light or the brush of a wing, but I can assure you from the Word that they encamp round about them that fear the Lord, and they bear us up in their hands. They are nearer than your fear. They are watching while you sleep. They are on the road before you, and they stand behind you, and the evil one cannot pass the cordon unless the King permits it, and He only permits what He intends to turn to your everlasting enrichment.
Therefore steady yourself, dear heart. Do not let the sinking ground swallow your faith. Lay hold of the unshakable kingdom. Your house on earth may tremble, but your mansion in the heavens is built upon a rock that cannot move. The worst that can happen is that a few things made of time fall into time’s own ruin, while you yourself are kept for an inheritance incorruptible. And meanwhile, the Lord does not forget your need. I have often found that the blackest hour is the hour when help is already on the way.
Let me pray with you now.
Lord Jesus, Keeper of Israel, who neither slumbers nor sleeps, look upon this burdened one whose home and goods and loved ones are under a shadow. Send what angels Thou wilt, send what help Thou seest best, only let them feel underneath them the everlasting arms. Let no evil befall them, nor any plague come nigh their dwelling, for Thou hast given Thine angels charge, and Thou art faithful. Calm the tremblings of the earth and the tremblings of the heart alike. Be Thou their refuge and fortress, their God in whom they trust. And until the day break and all shadows flee, keep them in perfect peace, because their mind is stayed on Thee. Amen.