The Guardian Angel Concept

Jul 24, 2022 News

==My Testimony ==

By Sharmain Grainger

Kaieteur News – For as long as I can remember, I have had a cushioned existence. But this isn’t because I was born into any exceptional circumstances. I was raised by a single mother who worked hard to provide for me and my siblings. However, my mother did have an outstanding trait over the years that I believe made an immense difference – she had a passion for protecting me, even when I wasn’t aware that I needed protection.

In protecting me, she tried her best to meet the majority of my needs and on the occasions she couldn’t, the alternative she proffered was simple: “If I can’t do it for you, do without it!”

However, at a young age, and even into adulthood, I couldn’t see the wisdom in some of the advice she gave me, but these days, I have complete appreciation for all my mother did and continues to do for me.

You see she has not merely been a mother who catered to my physical needs; her love, over the years, has been backed by the guidance of the true and living God whose principles she instilled in me from a young age. Of course, this didn’t prevent me from wandering off and flirting with danger at times.

But had it not been for the biblical wisdom she shared and the prayerful ways she exhibited over the course of my upbringing, I am convinced that my life today would have been void of purpose, or worse yet, it could have ended abruptly. My mother, I have no doubt, has slain a multitude of diabolical monsters that were vying to steal my very peace of mind, and probably so much more, by holding true to her faith in God. In fact, I am convinced that it would have been especially easy for me to fall victim had it not been for her endurance.

She, unknowingly, was the only person keeping me sane at one point of my life. For many years, I was an introvert and pretty much lived in a bubble, and shied away from being a part of anything meaningful. In fact, there were many occasions that I became overwhelmed with the thought that I simply didn’t “fit in” anywhere and therefore had no purpose to fulfill. Needless to say, there was many a suicide ideation that I battled quietly, and near executed on a few occasions. My saving grace was nestled in the biblical knowledge my mother exposed me to from a young age, coupled with the fact that she was and still is a prayer warrior of mountain-moving proportion.

It was because of this God-fearing woman that I became acquainted, for instance with verses like Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

The act of deciding to take your own life is a literal demonstration that you do not trust the one who created you to take care of you, thus you feel empowered to take matters into your incapable hands.

Although the pages of the bible are laced with some disturbing atrocities – which I have come to accept characterizes real life – it is laden with an abundance of hope as well. When you consider scriptures such as: “The Lord…will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged” – Deuteronomy 31:8, and the fact that he is prepared to absolve me of every wrong so that I can have a better life, it is simply mind blowing and humbling. It makes no sense that Jesus “…took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows…He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and by His wounds we are healed” – Isaiah 53:4-5. But I have come to appreciate that God just isn’t logical.

Can you appreciate how sobering it is that a Supreme Being would allow his literally flawless son, to assume the flawed human form as a sacrifice to free us all from any oppression, depression or suppression that ever was, just so we can have fulfilling lives.

I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t deserve such sacrificial love. But it is only through the reading of the scriptures that I am able to grasp and appreciate the depth of this love. This Supreme Being is not fierce and off-limits but rather loving and accessible and wants nothing but the best for me – even surpassing my mother’s desires.

According to the bible, God did not come to condemn us but rather to save us (John 3:17) from our foolish thoughts and actions. When the knowledge of a loving God is instilled into a young child, I am convinced, based on my own experience, that child will remain grounded, even if inundated with opposing doctrines. The truth will always prevail; light will always overcome darkness.

Today I admonish parents, at least the responsible, loving ones, to adhere to Proverbs 22:6 which offers the wise instruction to “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” I pray that all parents would see the importance of adopting the guardian angel mentality as I have seen exhibited by my mother, who to this day, would fight tooth and nail to ensure that her daughter does not fall prey to those predators, some of whom lurk around in plain sight, pretending to be angels of light.

Having put in the work over the years to safeguard me, I believe my mother has sufficient confidence in God today that her daughter can finally fend for herself, and others too, with boldness and zeal that cannot be earned but rather is supernaturally gifted.

“For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God -” Ephesians 2:8