An Angel's Message

A couple of months ago I had a dream.  In my dream I read a story about a man who was talking with an angel.  In my dream I underlined and starred the end of the story for future reference, but when I woke up I did not remember even having a dream and went on with my life.  Last night I had a similar dream.  In the dream I was in the same setting and was looking over my notes to find that same story.  However I woke up before I had accomplished that task.  But this time, when I woke up I remembered the dream.  I had to think for a while if I had really read the story in the first dream or if I had read it somewhere else prior to the dream.  After I thought about it I concluded that I had never read the story outside of my dream.  So then I had to try to remember the story from my previous dream without being able to look back at it.

I do not remember the setting of the story.  Whether the angel came to earth to talk to the man, or whether the man was experiencing heaven for the first time and talked to the angel out loud as he took in the very presence of God.  But I do remember the end of the story:

The man asked/stated to the angel, “After being in the presence of the Lord, you must be so sad when you have to come down to earth and leave the presence of the Father.”  The Angel looked at the man and answered “No!  You couldn’t be more wrong, there is no greater joy than to do the work of the Father!”

I could not tell you where this dream originated or why I dreamt it.  It is one of those dreams that seem so familiar outside of the dream itself as though I had actually consciously thought about it or contemplated it for awhile, even though I have not.  Regardless it rings so true about the purpose behind life and living for the Lord.  There really is no greater joy than to be living in obedience to the Father. 

A few verses that come to mind as I think about the angel’s message are as follows (one is taken from the life of Christ and the other from the life of Paul):

John 6:38 “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent me.”

Philippians 1:21-26 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.  If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!  I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.  Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.”

The main thing I take away from this is that our life on earth is not about our own happiness and comfort, but about living in obedience to our Father.  Even Paul says that dying and going to heaven is “better by far,” but joy is not obtained through comfort and ease by through suffering with Christ and experiencing His presence in that suffering.  If we live in obedience now the joy we will experience when we finally stand before our Father will be greater by far than if we only seek to gratify ourselves now.

Dear Lord,

Thank You for the angel’s message.  Help me to learn the joy of doing Your work.

A simple and humble amen