Angels of Humility: A Novel

by Jackie Macgirvin

  To Delhi, prayed Sarah.

  “Go!”

  To Bangalore.

  “Go!”

  To Mumbai.

  “Go!”

  “So amazing,” said Joel smiling. “The prayers of an elderly woman, three quarters of the way dead, are shaking the enemy’s kingdom halfway around the world.”

  “Even after all these eons, I’m still astounded that our glorious, omnipotent God has chosen to partner with frail, broken people and He binds Himself to their prayers.”

  For the next hour, angels were commissioned to the battle in India. Principalities were defeated, strongholds came down, deception was lifted, and souls were saved.

  Somewhere around 4:00 a.m., between Cairo, Egypt, and Amman, Jordan, Sarah’s arm dropped from the rotating globe as she slid gently into a coma.

  Joel and Malta finally received the news from Father that they had been longing to hear. Before sunrise, they were to bring Sarah home. Celestial light flooded the room. The angels glowed with the anticipation of the swallowing up of temporal, earthly life into an eternity of love and peace.

  The angels paused from their celebration. “Another stroke,” said Joel, smiling tenderly as he looked at Sarah’s face.

  “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints,”8 shouted Joel. They resumed their marching, dancing, and praising around Sarah’s bed.

  Malta blew his shofar, and the heavens opened. The atmosphere was energized with even more glory. The sounds of celestial music wafted into the room along with heavenly colors and fragrances. Angels carrying instruments surrounded Sarah’s bed. This heavenly choir followed Malta’s worship, and their joyful praise not only filled the room, but flowed back to the throne of grace like a tidal wave of pure joy.

  Sarah was wholly protected in her utterly vulnerable state from the yellow-eyed demon spirits huddled together in the corner.

  “We’ve tried unsuccessfully to kill her for 16 months. Let’s face it. We can’t even steal one second from the life span appointed to her,” groused Intimidation.

  Joel gazed at the spirits with eyes like blazing fire. He unsheathed his flaming, two-edged sword, and on his next pass by that side of the room, slashed through the gnarled demonic mass. They vaporized into a harmless puff of yellow sulfurous smoke. Joel grinned as he resheathed his sword, “I love my job.”

  With the sun slightly below the horizon, the angels gathered around the bed in a hushed excitement. Joel and Malta bent over Sarah.

  “Soooo—close,” whispered Malta, stroking Sarah’s forehead and smiling at Joel.

  “Get ready,” said Joel, gazing into the opened Heaven, awaiting the final word. Malta laid his hand on Sarah’s chest to feel her shallow breathing.

  “NOW!” shouted Joel, having received orders from God’s fiery throne. As her last breath escaped her frail, fleshly shell, the sun’s first rays peeked over the horizon. Surges of light permeated the room as the heavenly corridor of glory touched earth. Sarah’s spirit emerged into Malta’s waiting arms. Glancing back, she caught a glimpse of her aged face, ashen-colored and wrinkled. She was whisked through the portal toward an unseen realm of eternity by a jubilant Malta, with Joel flying ahead. Escorted by her two triumphant angels, she was moving faster than the speed of light.

  Liquid warmth enveloped Sarah. For the first time ever, she felt the complete absence of pain and the presence of total peace. She was leaving behind all sin and the damning results with which she had lived since birth. Shielded by her two ecstatic angels, she moved rapidly toward a brilliant light in the remote distance.

  CHAPTER 42

  “And the King will answer arid say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me’”

  (Matthew 25:40).

  “I have held many things in my hands and I have lost them all. But whatever I have placed in God’s hands that I still possess.”

  Randy Alcorn1

  Before she even had a chance to wonder or conceive of her experience, she was at her destination. “Thank you, Joel. Thank you, Malta,” she cried out in excitement, but wondered where that knowledge came from. The two guardians escorted her to the edge of the fountain which was shooting thousands of crimson streams skyward, obscuring everything else from view.

  All she could see was brilliant, illuminated, blinding red. Without hesitation, she ran into the fountain’s streams, followed by Joel and Malta, all three laughing and shrieking like children. She felt her “body” changing. Living light radiating from the Lord Himself transformed her. She was aware that He was everywhere, but she could not see Him yet. She was fully alive in His presence.

  The mantle of humility slipped from her shoulders to reveal the brilliant robe of Jesus’ righteousness, a free gift. As the blood washed over her, it left behind a golden celestial glow, not a red stain. She was enveloped in the golden glory; the horrific remnants of sin’s effects were washed away. “I’m alive for the first time!”

  Gravity’s grasp was not in effect there. She jumped and leapt and floated. She threw her head back and laughed uproariously when she realized that her mobility had more than returned. She spun and twirled and grabbed Malta by the shoulders, looking him eye-to-eye, and shook him, “There are no wheelchairs in Heaven—no wheelchairs!” She heard her voice shout out the wonderful proclamation, but it wasn’t her regular voice, the elderly one with the embarrassing tremor, it was her youthful voice, only richer. It was the true melody from which the earthly voice had been a cheap, tinny copy.

  She looked at her hands, still on Malta’s shoulders. The wrinkled, gnarled, swollen digits were perfectly soft, unblemished. She opened and closed her hands effortlessly; arthritis was a fading memory. She had become a younger, perfected version of herself, clothed in a glowing celestial robe!

  If she had looked in a mirror, she would not have seen her sin-crippled elderly face staring back, but a youthful, divine individual in complete perfection, body and spirit. She had become the person she was created to be from the beginning, had not sin rushed in to corrupt the world and to corrupt her.

  Joel and Malta were enjoying the celebration as much as Sarah, and she was reveling in it! She laughed and shrieked. Her emotions were lively and unrestrained in a way she had never experienced.

  “It’s hard for me to believe you were an introvert,” said Joel.

  This caused Sarah to laugh even more. Then the three friends joined hands together in delight: circling right, then circling left, moving faster and faster like children on a playground. When they finally stopped dancing, the angels surrounded Sarah and she was swallowed up in their enthusiastic embrace of love.

  Splashing in the fountain felt like she’d been cold all her life, and for the first time she was warm, like being mentally tormented and finding peace, like being depressed and having delirious happiness overtake her, and like being weak, sick, and terminally ill and being transformed to total, perfect health.

  She was experiencing the full manifestation of her salvation, experiencing what it means to be a new creature in Christ, all the old had totally passed away and all things had become new for her.2 When her physical body died, death died for her, and she had followed her risen Savior into life indeed, finally free from all influence of the bludgeoning presence of evil.

  Her earthly past seemed very dim, at least the sinful, broken parts. She had not realized the burden of carrying around her sinful ways until they had been shed in death, until she felt their absence for the first time. It was like she’d been carrying around a 500-pound backpack, which she had never been without. They had constantly battled her new nature once she was saved. What she “lived” on earth now seems like a walking, warmed-over death that held absolutely no allure.

  It was truly unrestrained freedom. She was now living in perfect peace and harmony. Indescribable feelings had pushed out bitterness, envy, lust, sadness, shame, anger, and jealously. She was so engulfed in love and
good feelings that she wondered why she had ever been a prisoner to those wretched things.

  As the warm liquid poured over her, she knew that this was what she had been created for, this was what she had longed for on earth and tried to fill with cheap substitutes that never satisfied. She was no longer an alien passing through a strange land; she had arrived at her home, and it was beckoning to her at every level of her being. Each cell and molecule of her new body was vibrating in happiness and unity. For the very first time, she felt comfortable in her skin.

  The concept of time, keeping schedules, and being late was left on earth. She didn’t even think, How long have I been here? Should I go someplace else? What is my responsibility? She was living in the present, with no shame or regrets about the past or worries and stress about the future.

  Between the laughter, she realized she was humming, humming along with the waters, which were vibrating and undulating with “music.” But no earthly music had ever sounded so sweet. When she listened, she heard innumerable voices singing, “There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emanuel’s veins and sinners plunged beneath this blood lose all their guilty stains.”3 It was as if the music passed right through her body and she became one with its message.

  Her senses were fully alive for the first time, and she was no longer limited just to five. She felt and experienced things that never existed on earth. She could see and smell the fragrances of music and colors. Everything was alive, even objects that were inanimate on earth were all crying out praises to Him.

  The ground was vibrating with the glory of God. If she concentrated on it to the exclusion of the other things, she could hear its sweet voice sing out to her, a rapturous swell of music proclaiming God’s eternal, indestructible love. She was amazed to watch the notes float by on their staffs and to smell and taste their sweet fragrance—music sweeter than any earthly rose.

  She closed her eyes to concentrate on all the new sounds. She was aware of a melody welling up inside her in response to the music-saturated atmosphere. “The Lord is good and His mercy endures forever…”4 She sang the phrase again and again, in awe as she watched the multitude of living golden notes praising intensely around her.

  With all time restraints and other earthly rules and restrictions lifted, she might have stayed for an earthly year frolicking and rejoicing in the fountain of life, had her attention not been drawn to the light illuminating it from behind. She was fixated on the brilliance. As she walked through the fountain, her excitement heightened and she began to run, faster than she had ever run before. Whatever was on the other side of the fountain was glowing brilliantly, illuminating the red, which was a more intense color than she has ever seen. The closer she came to the fountain’s end, the brighter the light became. She burst out of the fountain and came face-to-face with her loving Savior, waiting with outstretched arms. She was not aware that she looked just like Him in His glory. His blood has demolished her sin and washed away all earthly remnants; she was as white as snow and glowing with heavenly glory.

  When she saw His glorious presence, His dazzling purity, and His unspeakable holiness, she intuitively fell prostrate before Him. He is Light and Life itself. She lay her hands on His beautiful nail-scarred feet and felt an overwhelming love like she’d never felt before, like warm oil pouring over her. It was a love that cannot be experienced on earth; human hearts and bodies lack the capacity to endure love this intense—it is reserved for the new bodies of eternity’s elect.

  She felt secure and refreshed; she laughed and cried at the same time, which no longer seemed a contradiction. Pleasant emotions bombarded her; being in His presence, actually touching Him, was like being in the fountain multiplied by a thousand. Each experience absorbed into her being, and with each one she felt more alive and energetic.

  She didn’t know if she’d been at His feet for two minutes or two weeks, and she wasn’t concerned either way. Jesus reached down, gently lifting her to her feet, and swept her up into a cheek-to-cheek embrace that left her feet dangling off the floor.

  Immediately, with lightening speed, she knew Jesus’ thoughts, Welcome home, Sarah. Welcome to Your heavenly home. We were thinking of you when We planned it.

  She clung to Him as tightly as she could and absorbed wave after wave of His love for her. Never let me go, please never let me go, she thought as tears of joy rolled down her cheeks.

  He finally set her back on her feet, but kept His right arm securely around her waist. He held out His left hand. “Shall we?” His gentle voice asked. Gazing into His eyes of love, she could not find her voice, but intuitively stepped onto His lovely nail scarred feet, and they danced and danced and danced engulfed in the heavenly music.

  Joel and Malta beamed as they watched the beautiful, devoted bride enjoying the first dance with her bridegroom King. The angels waited behind a golden altar holding a huge leather book, richly tooled, with her name in gold calligraphy. The dance concluded in front of the altar.

  “Now, My precious Sarah, before you enter into your Heavenly reward that I have prepared for you, we must evaluate your life on earth.” She could barely take her eyes off of Him. Finally she forced herself to look at Joel and Malta, who were beaming at her and anticipating the great joy that was ahead. Joel opened the book almost to the very back.

  What about those first 71 years I lived just for myself? Look at all the wasted pages. Jesus immediately answered her thoughts. He gave her a wink and nodded to Malta, who flipped backward through the pages. Each golden-edged page was crimson, the same color as the fountain. Sarah gasped and threw herself at the Lord’s feet in gratitude and adoration.

  “As far as the east is from the west, that’s how far I removed your transgressions from you.5 Over her sobbing, Jesus’ gentle voice continued. “Sarah, I knew you wouldn’t come into the kingdom until you were 71. I knew that before We created the world. On the day you were born, I rejoiced and counted off each day until Pastor Hall visited you. While it was hurtful to watch you make choices that were not in your best interest or Mine, I still rejoiced over you each day because I looked beyond your present to your future. You see, I knew that once you heard the Truth you would accept it and that you would give your whole self to it. You did more for My Kingdom in 18 months than many people who are saved 71 years! I celebrated your future even while you were still My enemy living in the kingdom of darkness.”

  Jesus lifted Sarah off the floor, and they stood together again in front of the book with His strong arms supporting her.

  The page was like a movie, and she saw Pastor Hall knocking on her door.

  “I can’t believe that’s me! I’m so emaciated. I was on my way to Hell—I was going to kill myself!” When Pastor Hall spoke the Scripture, she saw that it is alive. The Holy Spirit was convicting her, and she saw Joel and Malta standing behind her.

  “Were you with me all the time?” she asked, looking lovingly at them. They glance at each other and smiled. “Sarah, we were never more than a prayer away.”

  The Lord continued to turn pages, commenting on Sarah’s prayer walking. He showed her each house and all the residents.

  “Sarah, in this house, Sam Wagner was ready to leave his wife, Lisa, for another woman. Your prayers enabled Me to soften his heart. He soon cut off the illicit relationship. Pastor Koch is going to visit them in six months and lead them to salvation. They’re going to have a baby 13 months after that. Joshua David will have a strong healing anointing. He will travel the world holding crusades and draw hundreds of thousands of people to Me.”

  Malta turned the next page. “This is the home of Jason Miller. Jason became a Christian on June 17, 1960. He has battled a pornography addiction for over 10 years. It was destroying his life and his marriage. And worst of all, the condemnation he constantly felt kept him from being able to receive My love for him. Your prayers, added with others’, drove away the spirit of Addiction that controlled his life, and the anxiety and constant shame he felt left, too. He feels
like a new man, like he has a brand new start on life.

  “Nancy Trost lives next door to the Millers; she had several large cancerous uterine tumors. She was terrified to be operated on. I healed her while she slept. When she woke up and the tumors were gone, she found her childhood Bible and started reading it again.

  “The Snyder family lives in this white bungalow.”

  “I remember when I was first prayer walking, for several weeks I felt led to loiter there and pray extra long,” said Sarah. She looked at Jesus with a curious smile.

  He smiled back, motioning to the page, “Look at this precious little toddler, Mitchell. What do you see?”

  “I don’t know what You mean, Lord,” replied Sarah. “He looks happy and healthy to me.”

  “He is now. He was born healthy, but at 2 months of age, because of a generational curse, he was developing Dystonia, a rare neurological disorder. If you hadn’t prayed, Mitchell would have eventually been unable to walk, sit, or eat. The wonderful part is that you were obedient and prayed extra hard. I was able to heal him before his mother had to go through the anguish of even hearing the diagnosis.”

  “Oh Lord, You are so good; look at all the people You healed, physically and emotionally.” A question popped into her mind, but she refrained from asking it. Then she remembered that He knew her thoughts, and she looked at Him for the answer.

  “Well Sarah, My beautiful one,” He said, taking her chin in His hand and turning it toward His face. “It was My perfect will for you to be healed of your Parkinson’s. It was My perfect plan for Pastor Paul to become the chaplain and receive an increase in the anointing. He was going to lay hands on you on June 12 at the jail, in his office, and I was going to heal you so you could stay a little longer and minister to the inmates. Paul’s disobedience affected the lives of many, many people in a negative way. You were one of them. Unfortunately, people’s sins have consequences, and not just for them only.”