The Angel of the Lord

The Angel of the Lord…

“The angel of the Lord guards all who fear him, and he rescues them.” Psalm 34:7 NLT

We had just completed supper at the kitchen bar and my family had moved into the living room. I finished cleaning up in the kitchen and joined them. We were commenting on and enjoying the late-summer thunderstorm that was we were experiencing at the time. It was right over us and the brilliant flashes and loud crashes were quite a display of the power and brilliance of nature.

Suddenly, right on top of us, was the loudest boom-crash-splintering sound, we’d ever heard. Outside the window we could see smoke and knew something close by had been struck by lightening. Seeing no fire outside the living room window, we moved through the house and to our dismay discovered that it looked like a bomb had exploded inside our kitchen. A corner cabinet was shattered. Shredded cookbooks; broken glass from measuring cups; splinters of wood from cabinets; a twisted metal recipe box I’d kept from academy home-economics class; electronic and plastic parts of a telephone; and other kitchen paraphernalia were scattered everywhere.

After everyone calmed down, and the storm moved on its way we went back into the kitchen, took some pictures to remember our experience, and started to clean up the mess. As reality and the amount of destruction set in, we were awed at the evidence of God’s protecting hand. Just 15 minutes before where we had enjoyed supper, there were shards of glass and wood. An 18-inch by three-foot piece of cabinet had been thrown the length of the bar and landed ten feet away, right where my son had been sitting. Across the room, above the range, exactly at my head level was a one-half-inch deep by five-inch long gash in the wall made by part of a glass measuring cup. The telephone wire was charred with burn marks on numerous places throughout the house.

After the kitchen was cleaned up, my husband discovered that there was more damage; everything electronic in the house was blown out. The inverter and solar panels, refrigerator, TV, telephone/answering machine, stereo, DVD, etc. all of these were not working. We were very grateful that the laptops had been unplugged.

Even though I can’t even open it, I’ve kept the twisted metal recipe box in my new kitchen for it reminds me of God’s protection and love. In telling and retelling this story we always come back to the fact that it was only things that were destroyed. The miracle is that none of the family was hurt. Indeed the angels of the Lord both guarded and rescued us!