Angel Armies

I know who goes before me;

I know who stands behind.

The God of angel armies

Is always by my side.

Sitting at her desk in the early morning hours, she contemplated the song playing in her head.  It was one of the new songs by that Christian artist - sounded like two names - Chris Tom? Chris Thomas? No, Chris Tomlin.  It was the words in the chorus that struck her, honestly, those words stopped her cold.  The God of angel armies...  What a picture!

Her imagination conjured a Michelangelo-esque God-general, riding across a thunderstorm on a heavenly warhorse at the helm of legions of angels....  It somehow seemed pagan, Greek myth-ish, like those movies that were so popular:  Clash of the Titans, Wrath of the Titans, Immortals.  So was that bothering her?  No, not bothering - fascinating.  Yes, the image fascinated her.

Why?  She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to consider what was so captivating.  It was in the stories.  She had always loved reading fantasy and fairytales.  Maybe it was the combination of worlds without technology, the possibility of supernatural abilities, the heroes battling for good...  She smiled ruefully.  No, that was too simple.  She was fascinated by other worlds because they allowed her to  escape from her world, from everyday details and normal, from responsibility.  They allowed her to care and love without attachment.  Once the book was over, the cover closed, her relationship with the characters could end.  And that was what had struck her about the line in the song...

God is not a character in a fairytale.

God is not the hero of an epic poem.

God is not a book to be finished, closed, and put back on the shelf.

Oh my!  She thought.  Oh my!  All of those bible stories that had drawn her as a child - stories about Samson and his magic hair, the challenge of giants, enchanted food falling from the sky, the commanding of oceans and storms, angels and demons.  Oh my!  Her God WAS the stories she loved.

Like a drop of water on a pond, creating rings and ripples that spread ever outward, her thoughts exploded.  God, that all-knowing, all-loving, all-wise, all-planning ALL, knew her so well.  She was surrounded by him inside and out - through stories and through music.  She laughed out loud in that quiet office.  God was always giving her gifts.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.