My Angel Story

by Linda Strickland
May/June 2010

It was May 10, 2006, and I had been working for Christian Healing Ministries for 8 months. We were in the middle of an Emerging Leaders in Healing Conference, at a downtown hotel in Jacksonville, and I was feeling a little weary. I was still getting used to what it meant to work for this powerful ministry, and all that it involved. Although I was physically tired, I was nevertheless on a spiritual high from witnessing the amazing things I had seen during my recent travels with the MacNutts.

In my short time with CHM I had seen cataracts disappear from a dear woman’s eyes, a person get out of a wheelchair and walk, and the withered arm of a man perfectly restored. In addition, I was seeing people’s lives transformed by God through inner healing and deliverance prayer, and to top it off I had personally witnessed the “Glory of God” appear on someone’s face in the form of gold dust. To say that I was hungry to see more is an understatement.

During the weeks that preceded the Emerging Leaders Conference, I had been asking God to “Open my eyes, Open my eyes.” Although I had witnessed truly wonderful things in the natural, I was now passionate to see the super–natural!

On the morning that the Lord finally “Opened my eyes” I was a complete mess! I was feeling extraordinarily exhausted after a sleepless night, all due to the fact that my husband, Gene, and I had a big misunderstanding the night before.

I had arrived home from the conference late, and had in my hands a video of a healing service where supernatural manifestations had been captured on camera. Someone from the conference had loaned it to me and I couldn’t wait to see it. So, although the hour was late, I asked Gene if he wanted to watch it with me. We hadn’t seen each other all day, so he agreed.

As we watched this amazing video I innocently commented to Gene, “Wouldn’t you love to see that?” Now what I didn’t know, and what I hadn’t bothered to ask about, was what kind of day my sweet husband had experienced. As a priest, he had counseled two couples that day who were struggling, and their marriages were in serious trouble. He was drained and very discouraged about what he had heard. So his response to me was very unexpected and abrupt as he almost shouted, “I’ll tell you what I want to see! I want to see husbands step up to the plate and be the head of their homes! I want to see husbands and wives fighting for their marriages and protecting their families, that’s what I want to see!”

I sat in shock, having no idea what he had been through that day. I was so confused, and while I was still trying to figure out what his tirade had to do with the video we were watching, I mistakenly asked, “Well, can’t I have both?”

Wrong question! We went to bed that night with our backs to each other, each mad about the insensitivity of the other.

I left very early the next morning to drive back to the hotel, before Gene was even awake. While driving I cried out to the Lord begging His forgiveness, questioning if I was wrong in asking to see more. After all, if my husband, who is usually very encouraging in these things, couldn’t understand, then maybe I was on the wrong track. I didn’t get an answer, and by the time I arrived at the conference I was feeling confused, exhausted, and very sad — a complete mess.

It was up to me to greet all of the people attending the conference, so the actress in me came out as I walked into the hotel with a big smile on my face. No one would have ever known anything was wrong, but all through the first session I sat in the back of the room, my mind reeling, still trying to figure out what had happened in my house the night before. After the coffee break I ushered everyone back into the meeting room where Judith was next on the program.

Once again, I sat myself down in the back of the room and settled in for the teaching. Suddenly, I was overwhelmed with alarm as I watched Judith drink her entire glass of water in the first fifteen minutes of her talk. Although I did not know Judith then as well as I know her now, one thing I knew for sure was, she did not normally drink that much water while she was teaching. Then she started biting her lip…the way she does when her mouth is dry. She was even acting nervous, which was completely uncharacteristic of her.

I sat there for a few minutes debating on what to do. What was wrong with her? Should I take her more water? As I was trying to figure out what to do, something behind her caught my eye. It was like a long flicker of light. I had decided that my tiredness was finally taking its toll when suddenly there it was again, only bigger…and it was moving!

The only way I can explain it is that it looked like there was an invisible curtain and something was walking out from behind it. And then suddenly there were three of them, big, bright and beautiful. They were at least 12 feet tall and one stood on either side of Judith with the third one right behind her. There were no wings, no arms, legs or even faces, but I instantly knew what they were. Amazed, I watched as they moved around her as if ministering to her. Although I could not see their faces, much less their eyes, I knew that one of them was looking right at me, and I heard in my head, “Don’t worry, we’ve got this covered.”

Sitting right beside me was the chairman of CHM’s Board of Directors. She casually leaned over, and in a whisper asked me, “What do you see?” To which I replied, “Angels!” She responded with, “Well, that makes sense.” I looked at her, and while trying to keep my composure said, “What do you mean, that makes sense??” And just as if this happened every day of the week she calmly said, “I have been sensing that there is someone in this room who is praying against Judith, so for the Lord to send angels makes perfect sense.”

Yes it did make perfect sense…but the fact that I was seeing them did not! I was completely overwhelmed, but in a good way as I instantly knew why. The Lord was answering my heart’s cry to Him, as I had been so worried that I was wrong to ask to see. Everything in me jumped for joy as I felt His love and approval wash over me. The whole experience lasted about five minutes, but they were five life changing minutes, to say the least!

As we broke for lunch I listened to a message on my phone from my beautiful husband who had called to apologize. We decided to meet for dinner and I could hardly wait to see him. Through tears, we shared with each other all that each of us was going through, and he marveled with me at what the Lord had allowed me to see.

It’s been almost 4 years now, and since then I have only seen small flickers of light and sensed their presence, but I know they are there…these magnificent, holy angels.

Someone recently asked me what I thought about the fact that I have not seen angels again like I did that day. And to be honest, I’m not sure, but I have three possible explanations.

The first is, I have not been hounding the Lord to see them like I was then. I was constantly asking him to “Open my eyes, Open my eyes.” I was so eager to see that I wouldn’t stop asking, so He finally obliged.

I also believe I was allowed to see what I saw because it was part of the preparation for my job here at Christian Healing Ministries. Since that time, Judith and I have been in many situations where I might be tempted to doubt that angels are with us. But because of that experience, I have no concerns. I know they are there!

And the final one is that I believe that the Lord was showing me that it was alright to ask to see into the spiritual realm. I was going through a time of self–doubt, and He not only lovingly gave me His approval, He then rewarded me — just as you would expect a loving Father to do.

Linda Strickland is CHM's Associate Director of Ministry and Assistant to Judith MacNutt.