There Was No Angel Then

    After weeks of no time for writing, much less inspiration, I got three ideas on Sunday. Unfortunately, I was sitting in church at the time. But, in my defense, they were Christmasy, Christiany type thoughts, but not thoughts that are easy to express, if this poem is any measure. All I am trying to convey is that, though angels played a role in Jesus' birth and ministry, they did not take away the trials involved in the daily lives of Mary, Joseph or Jesus. Despite the special revelation given to them and angel encounters, they lived their lives one step of obedience at a time, just as we do.

There Was No Angel Then

 

An angel came to Mary to reveal God's plan

for her, for His Son, for the world.

And an angel came in Joseph's dream

to reveal God's path for Joseph, Mary and Jesus.

But for the labor and birth in a stable,

there was no angel then.

 

An angel warned dreaming Joseph to flee to Egypt

so the child would escape Herod's slaughter.

But for the lifetime of gossip

maligning Christ's conception

the family could not flee,

there was no angel then.

 

And angels came to Jesus

to minister to him

after his forty day trial in the wilderness.

But for the long and lonely days before

of hunger, thirst, deprivation and temptation,

there was no angel then.

 

Throngs of angels announced Jesus' birth to the shepherds.

But, as the Good Shepherd lived, loved, healed and taught

His indifferent, unbelieving, increasingly hostile people,

even His own earthly family, 

for more than three years of ministry,

there was no angel then.

 

An angel came to Jesus after He sweat blood

in the garden of Gethsemane, where He agonized in prayer

to submit his will to the gruesome ordeal to come.

But for the hours of humiliation, abuse and suffering

that came before His death,

there was no angel then.

An angel rolled the stone away

to display the empty tomb,

and two told the women the resurrection news.

But when Jesus rose again,

with power to raise Himself and men,

there was no need for angels then.

 

The path we follow to fulfill

the wondrous weaving of God's will

can be a toilsome task. 

Obedience is all that's asked

to bring about God's plan

as with angels, so with man.