Encounters with Angels

My name is Lydia Chola Waiyaki. I am a born-again Christian. I am an Associate Pastor, Speaker and Author. The first book I wrote started as a diary. The book is titled ‘A Journey with Christ.’ Here is part of my story and testimony.

“The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him and he delivers them.” (Psalm 34:7 – NIV Version).

This is a true story.

Imagine this, an ordinary August morning, just like any other.

I, Lydia, a devoted woman of faith, is immersed in my Bible, comfortably nestled amongst the soft pillows of my bed. The tranquility of the morning is about to be shattered by a revelation so profound, it will leave my world spinning on its axis. Suddenly, the door swings open and in tumble my six-year-old son and five-year-old nephew. Their faces are flushed, their eyes wide with childlike wonder, their chests heaving with barely contained excitement. “Mum,” my son gasps out, “there were two angels at the gate last night!” His voice is a breathless whisper as he continues, his small hands cupping my face as he looks into my eyes, “I know their names. They are Angel Gabriel and Angel Michael.” Their descriptions are startlingly vivid. According to the children, the angels held swords made of fire – Michael’s pointing towards the heavens, Gabriel’s towards the earth.

They were dressed in robes of pure, shimmering white, their waists cinched with golden sashes that glowed in the moonlight. The children described the angels as being very tall, taller than the trees that are outside the gate where we reside. These trees are over fifteen feet tall. As I listen, I feel an indescribable sense of awe wash over me. My world, my faith, has been touched by the miraculous. These mighty angels of the Lord visited my home, shared their heavenly presence with my family.

On another day, the children and I experienced another heartwarming encounter with angels. Janet, my sister, the children and me were going home from church. The children could see into the spiritual realm. They were telling me and Janet very amazing accounts. They said that Jesus and the two angels called Michael and Gabriel were in the car with us. My nephew Mnjala, who is Janet’s young son, explained that it looked like the angels were carrying us. While I was trying to get all this information in, the boys were looking out of the car window and enjoying the view. They started to point out towards different buildings. They said that they could see enormous angels standing on specific buildings. We continued with the journey back home, and as we approached a roundabout that turns into a road that led to our home, a big truck was approaching very fast from the left side.

My adorable six-year-old son Mungai exclaimed, “An angel just stopped that truck, Mum! It was coming toward you too fast!”

Janet and I were so mesmerized by what we had heard the children say. It became evident that there are angels around us and they have been sent by God Almighty to guard us. I drove the car silently wondering, pondering about the two angels that the children had encountered again. I remembered that Angel Gabriel and Angel Michael have been mentioned in the book of Daniel. “I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of the finest gold around his waist. His body was like chrysolite, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude” (Daniel 10:5-6 – NIV Version). In the same chapter, Michael is mentioned as one of the chief princes, who came down to help Gabriel because he had been detained by another principality and could not get to Daniel with the message from God.

Gabriel was also the messenger angel the Lord sent to a young woman called Mary to deliver a message that she would carry and deliver the Savior of the world.

Yet in another encounter with the angels, myself and the two boys were on our way to visit their grandparents. Somewhere in the middle of the journey, the children exclaimed that the two angels had visited again. I had an important question to ask the two young boys. I wanted to know how such big angels could fit in my little car.

My son responded, “The angels have said that God allows them to change sizes so as to fit into different places.”

Now I directed some more questions to these amazing supernatural, celestial beings. I wanted to know when they were created.

Again, my son answered, “The angels are telling us that God created them before the world was created.”

It is true that God created angels before the creation of the world as we read in the book of Job chapter 38 verses 4 to 7. “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set or who laid its cornerstone – while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?” (NIV version)

I yet asked another question, amazed and baffled that the children were hearing the angels. I wanted to know about Satan who is also called Lucifer. He was an angel who lived in heaven but was thrown down after he rebelled against God Almighty. I asked why he is ugly yet everything God created is beautiful even the bible says that he was beautiful and was adorned with precious stones.

The children almost answered at the same time. “The angels have said that Satan wants to look ugly because he does not like anything that God created, including his own beauty. He was beautiful when he lived in heaven.”

In a different encounter, my nephew had informed me that Jesus had told him that Satan sometimes looks like a beautiful angel because he wants to deceive people. In that encounter, he wore a white robe and if it was not for the red horns on his head, my nephew would have thought that he was an angel from God.

On this particular day, I drove the car silently, thinking about the conversation I just had with the angels through the children. Everything they had said was true. The angels were in the car with us, and they were giving the answers to my questions. I could hear the children giggling in the backseat of the car, but my thoughts were on every word they had said to me. In a short while, my son announced that Jesus had joined us in the car and He had told them that He would stay with us until we got to his grandparents’ house.

What an enlightening adventure!

What I learnt from these experiences and many more that came is that angels are real and they are always amongst us.

Angels were created by God before He created the earth and man. There are many angels in heaven worshipping God in His throne room. They are spirit beings.

The biblical prophet Micaiah said: “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, with all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and his left.” (2 Chro. 18:18 – NIV Version)

John the Revelator wrote: “Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang; “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise.” (Rev. 5:11-12 – NIV Version)

Here is an excerpt from my first book titled, ‘A Journey with Christ.’

“In the morning, the children told me that they were in heaven.

My son said, “Mum, I was flying a shiny red kite, and Mnjala had a shiny blue kite. It was so much fun because the kites were lifting us up. There were other children and people playing with us, too.”

I was very pleased to know that we are going to play in heaven. A little child in all of us wants to play. These heavenly kites seem like one of a kind. They actually fly with you. I cannot imagine how much fun this must be!

God called out in a loud voice, “Mungai and Mnjala, come here!”

Mungai told God that they were returning their kites to the toy room. As soon as they were done, they found themselves in the throne room in front of God, seated on the golden chair.

God told them that He was going to tell them why He created people and why He created angels. “I created people so they can praise and worship me.”

Then He taught the boys why He created the heavenly beings. “I created angels so some of the angels can be in heaven to worship me. I send others to earth to fight Satan and his demons, so they do not disturb my people. Then I send other angels to earth to heal my people.”

What an incredible truth!

This story may seem extraordinary, and it is. But it’s just a few of the many encounters I have on my journey with Christ. And you, dear reader, are invited to walk this journey with me, to experience the divine and the miraculous in the everyday.

To do so, delve into ‘A Journey with Christ’. It’s more than just a book, it’s an invitation to explore the intertwining of the divine and the ordinary. You can find it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Christian book store and Westbow Press. Also at your local stores – CLC Kenya and Keswick Books & Gifts Ltd.

So, don’t wait. Start your journey today.

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