I had the most remarkable experience today. I was working very hard on editing a teaching series, and it took a great of effort and time. I had already put well over 60 hours into editing this series. I felt a bit frustrated because editing a transcribed tape is so much work.

Suddenly a voice in my "mind's ear" began to ask me questions about God and my relationship with Him. These questions were designed to get me thinking about and proclaiming how wonderful He is, how good He has been to me, etc. It was really like a conversation.. but without audible words. And the whole thing pointed to God's faithfulness, awesomeness, power, goodness, etc. It lasted for quite a while. Let me give you an example of part of the conversation.

"Teresa, has God ever been really good to you?"

"Yes, He has."

"Can you tell me about one or two times that His goodness really stands out in your memory?"

I proceeded to share a couple of incidents where I had been deeply touched by His love and mercy and forgiveness... times when I really deserved to be punished and He came with forgiveness, love and acceptance instead.

"What are some of the neatest things you have personally experienced with God?"

Then I would answer the question.

"So you feel loved by God?"

"Oh yes!"

"Can you tell me about a few times when He has really come through for you?"

The conversation got me to focus on all sorts of wonderful things about God's character, about my relationship with Him, about things God has done for me in my life, about neat ways He has met me, etc. There was no way I could focus on all of this without falling into worship. In fact, I was as much of a "spiritual high" as during a good worship session at church where God's presence comes over the congregation in a tangible way.

Then I asked if the "voice" that I was talking to if it was the Holy Spirit. It said, "No, I am an angel. I was sent to help you focus your attention on God and His goodness." The angel went on to tell me how much he enjoys hearing our testimonies of God's goodness to us and of the things that God does in believer's lives and hearts.

Then I asked the angel what God was like to him. He began to share a tad (just a tad) of what God "looks like" from an angel's perspective. He talked about His radiance and His glory and His goodness and love. Apparently, each and every angel has a personal relationship with God and they feel loved by Him. I tried to ask the angel some questions about what it is like being an angel, about his experiences, etc. But the angel refused to go there, saying that he wanted to keep the focus on God, not on himself. And each time I would try to wander, he would redirect my attention to God and His glory, His awesomeness, His power His goodness, His love, etc.

God is pretty awesome from the angel's perspective, too. One thing that the angel said about God really stuck in my memory. He talked about God's vastness. He said that he can watch what God is doing, but God is always doing so much, always interacting with so many people, always hearing so many prayers, that God is able to be in our present and in other times at the same instant.. and the angel is unable to see all that God is doing at any instant. God is bigger and more vast than even the angel can comprehend. (Of course, the angel expressed this much better than I am able to repeat it here. I caught a glimpse of God's bigness as he described it, and I was awed by my God.)

It was a really neat experience. I did not see anyone.. I only "heard" a voice in my mind's ear that did not feel like my own thoughts. (I suppose it could have been my imagination instead of an angel. But if it were my imagination, then the Holy Spirit must have been involved. And He must have been really redeeming my imagination -- because I don't think I was capable of imagining what the angel said about God on my own.)

I suspect it probably really was an angel that God sent to help me worship and focus on Him. But whether it was an angel or not, it was certainly an awesome experience to reflect on who God is and what He has done for me. I tell you, it is impossible to think about all the wonderful stuff God does in our lives and all the wonderful ways He meets us and not to fall into worshipping Him. God is awesome!