Angels of Mercy - Martin Wiles

And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God. Hebrews 13:16 NLT

We sat on the porch and watched the angels of mercy come, one after the other.

My wife and I were visiting a shut-in couple from our church when the angels of mercy arrived. As we enjoyed the cool fall weather, I watched the front door of the house across the road open. A lady with a covered tray walked out and across the street. She strolled up the couple’s front steps and told them she had made them supper. As she named off the southern meats and vegetables under the foil, the husband’s mouth watered. She took the meal inside, placed it on their table, made a few minutes of small talk, and then left. 

A few more minutes of conversation passed when a neighbor on the left walked over with a plastic bag and said, “Thank you, Papa, for watching my kids.” 

“You’re welcome, honey,” he said. 

I wondered how he had cared for her kids, since he could hardly care for himself or his wife. His eyes lit up as he looked inside and discovered six packs of bologna—one of his favorite meats to fry and make a sandwich from. 

“Thank you, Lord,” he whispered, tears dotting his eyes as his neighbor walked away. 

Both angels were from different races and cultures—one an African American and the other Hispanic. But it mattered not to this couple living in a neighborhood that had changed drastically since they purchased their home fifty years before. God has sent his angels, and they were thankful.

Like most people, I sometimes focus more on my own needs than on others’. I want God to send his angels in the form of others to help me, but I forget he wants to send me as an angel of mercy as well. But putting my eyes and hands on others relieves the emotional intensity of the hardships I might be facing and reminds me that I don’t have to look far to find people in more dire straits than I am. 

Opportunities to be used as God’s angel of mercy abound. Being one requires living with intentionality, desire, love, and openness to the opportunities God places all around us. 

Ask God to send you angelic opportunities. 

Father, thank you for the privilege of serving as your hands and feet in this world. 

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