Angels sent before us

"Behold I send an angel before you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. Give heed to him and hearken to his voice, do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression; for my name is in him. But if you hearken attentively to his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries." Exodus 23:20-22

God sends His angel before the people of Israel, always present among them to guide them and direct them. He does the same for us. The challenge in life is not to find our path, but to listen to the will of the One who knows our path. For if we listen, if we spend our energy straining for the silence in our life that we may hear the voice of the angel He has sent before us, then our enemies and our obstacles are His enemies and obstacles. If we stray from his path, we are in the enemies' camps. In the dark woods we will find ourselves turning to them for protection and food. In this we align ourselves with our Lord's enemies; woe to him who does so willfully! But the Lord will ransom us; if we long for His protection then He will come and take us away from these dark places. He will send His light through the dense foliage to guide you to His clearing.

If we search for the path ourselves when we find ourselves in the woods, then our lives become noisy auctions. Every distraction, every ambition, every prideful notion will bid for our attention, our life. No matter the price the bidder is willing to "pay" us, we are selling ourselves to bondage to an enemy in order to protect ourselves from another enemy. But our freedom is priceless, and is the only path to the safety of our loving Father who will protect us from all enemies. We must follow the voice of God on the path of freedom, the path where we are safe and satisfied.