For the Angels?

There's this thought I have had swirling around my head. Maybe it's accurate. Maybe not. But I like the concept......

Sometimes I know we just don't get answers to the petitions that we bring before the foot of the throne. We don't get to know now why we get a "no" to the things we're longing and asking for with every ounce of our energy. And the more we get to know & fall in love with the Lord, the more okay that becomes. But He gave me another picture recently. Another possible angle on the situation. 

I've been studying a few things. One of them being the life of John the Baptist. Many things greatly intrigue me about this incredible man. I've been thinking about the fact that in the entire time of his imprisonment and be-heading, his cousin (and close friend) had the ability and authority to save him from his situation at any moment. I mean, really. We're talking about God in the flesh, here. Jesus could've done anything He darned well wanted. So. Was it that He didn't WANT John to be freed from prison? From such a death? He certainly didn't deserve such treatment! They were cousins, quite good buds. One would think Jesus might want John to come travel with Him and His disciples, perhaps even have him in the close intimate group in which He invested and closely shared life with. Why in the world, then, do we not see Jesus acting on His cousin's behalf? The be-heading being the result of an evil, scandalous, sexual, controlling, seductive plot on the part of a political leader's wife (And you thought all the crap our Nation's pulled in the last 200 years was like, new, or something!) makes me wonder even more why Jesus would allow this to simply go on without stopping it. I questioned and questioned.  I searched for similar puzzling situations in scripture. I pulled out notes from the classes I had at Ecola.  I searched for talks on it by good, reputable speakers/teachers online. Do you know what I found? Not much. 

This isn't something that has been addressed or talked about much. And often, when it IS, we're told there are just times God doesn't seemingly act on our behalf or come through or bless us or reward us for something well done in ways we'd hope or even typically expect based on scripture. People tend to shy away from facing the question of "Why does He allow things He could stop? Why let someone who is walking intimately with Him go through dry, barren seasons that seem to drag for un-necessary lengths of time? Doesn't it matter?" Of course, there are no absolute answers to questions like this. There are in fact probably MANY answers to questions like this. But I sense one newer one lately that just really does something to my heart.......

The race. The challenge. The fight. That's the answer! Here's what I mean......there is significant enough Biblical proof to believe that God created the angels before He created the Earth. A good guess for this is probably because He wanted to be able to share the creation of Earth with someone. Have an audience, so to speak. And can't you just imagine the angels loudly applauding and thundering in the stands every time He created or added something new? The excitement? The roar of their entertainment?  When He created something brand new for the very first time, maybe they got all tickled and turned to Him and proclaimed, "Oh, that was GOOD!" 
Well, do you think maybe The King allows crap and barren seasons in our lives today for similar reason? You see, the angels don't live by faith. Don't need to. They look The King of Kings in the face every single day. They literally SEE how powerful and awesome He is. Living by faith rather than sight is something unique to the human experience. And I believe it is incredibly inspiring for the angels to watch us do this. When we live in a season of hurt, pain, grief, lack of, or just plain exhaustion of life, and stand with our head high, feet firmly planted, steadily keeping pace with our eyes focused un-wavering on that finish line, praising the King with every single step of our feet, I would argue that it amazes the Angels. And possibly even God Himself. Can you picture being truly faithful to serving, loving, and worshipping Him through a storm and knowing that the Angels are watching? Perhaps they slap their knee and say "oh, man. That was GOOD!" That's an incredible thought.