Mothers’ Union Devotion Wednesday 29th September- St Michael and All Angels

And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Revelation 12. 7-12

I wonder what image you imagine when you think of the Archangel Michael. A man with blond curly locks, beautiful wings, and a long white robe just like the usual portrayal of his equal Archangel Gabriel. Or a man in the shiny armour of the perfect knight such as Lancelot and the Knights of the Round Table. Because whereas Gabriel is God’s messenger, Michael is God’s defender, and we have a particular image of someone who can defend us.  Michael, however, is not defending us from clubs, arrows, canon, guns, bombs, or even wild animals. Michael is defending us from the insidious power of evil.

And evil is insidious. Evil is propagated through the voices of those who tempt us into a world of fear, despair, desperation, anger. The voices that tell us to strike first in order to protect ourselves, our loved ones or our way of life. The voices that call us to repay evil for evil. The voices that shout so loud that we cannot hear the infinitely affirming voice of our loving Lord. Michael is there to help us counteract and defeat those negative voices. He is there rallying the whole army of angels to fight in his campaign. The countless messengers from God who are currently fighting to bring the unending message of love, right into the very core of our being.

As in any battle there are times when each side appears to be in the ascendancy. Times when the voice of evil is loudest, knocking our self-esteem, drawing us towards the finality of surrender. But there are also times when we feel more positive because of the love shown to us by those we encounter. Angelic messengers from God who give us the strength to fight back, the conviction that we must resist and battle on. Drawing us towards the voice of God which brings us back from No Man’s Land. The angelic voices that remind us firmly that we are on the Lord’s side and that the Lord is on our side. Angelic messengers from God that draw us away from the negativity and disturbance of our souls into the peace and rest that only our loving Lord can bring.

With all my love and prayers

Revd Sandra