Standing On the Hands of God's Angels

He was the most wanted criminal in all of Saudi Arabia. He was not wanted for robbery, or murder, or rape. He was wanted for being a Christian pastor and for leading a large secret church in the Saudi Arabian capital city.

Without being charged, Pastor Wally was taken from his home and into a room with three men. There he was slapped, kicked, and punched. The most painful abuse was the lashes on the bottoms of his feet. When the lashing was done, his hands and feet were the purple color of eggplant.

In the midst of that pain, the torturers ordered Wally to stand. “I cannot,” he told them. Every square inch of his feet hurt, and there was no way to support his weight. “Please just allow me to kneel.” The torturers refused.

While the three men beat him, Pastor Wally prayed for them. His prayers reminded him of a verse. “For he will command his angels . . . they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone” (Psalm 91:11–12). In spite of his feet, Wally stood straight up among the men. They were shocked that he could stand after such a beating.

“I was standing on the hands of God’s angels,” Pastor Wally later said. “They could not see angels, but I felt that they were there to help me stand.”

Some people seem to send their guardian angels into overtime. Like Pastor Wally, they are constantly on the edge for Christ with a prayerful witness and a daring spirit. Still we might imagine that some guardian angels have time on their hands, assigned to Christians who do nothing to further the kingdom. While Pastor Wally’s situation was unique, his prayer should not be. Sometimes we must stand on the hands of God’s angels in order to be faithful to Christ. Do we exude that type of fervent desire in our workplace? Our homes? Our school? Wherever you find it difficult to take a stand for Christ today, ask God to send his angels to give you a lift.