Daisies in Diaries 1: The Day the Angel Came

Hello dear sisters, and welcome to Daisies in Diaries.

 

What we do here is very simple. We retell diaries that were never really written down, but could have been. These women from the Bible, from history, from the faith, lived real lives, went through real struggles, cried real tears, and made real choices.

 

So we take one moment from their story, and we imagine it in diary form to make it close, alive, and relatable. We picture what they might have thought, what they might have whispered, how they might have prayed on that day.

 

Each time we meet, we pluck one daisy, we open one diary, and we let their story speak into ours.

 

Tonight, the diary we are opening is from Manaoh’s Wife. This entry is titled: The Day the Angel Came.

 

DAISIES IN DIARIES 1: THE DAY THE ANGEL CAME 

I tremble as I write in my diary tonight. Usually, I’d write about looking up to YahWeh to remember me as He did Sarah. I actually have never lost hope and every month, I hope I won’t go through the flow of that time of the month. But then, I’d be disappointed. 

 

I’d look through the window to the starry sky and renew my hope in God as I write in my diary. 

 

But this time, it’s different. Really different!

 

Today, in my quiet village of Zorah, I woke to another ordinary morning, so I thought. 

 

The hills were still cool with early light. Manoah had gone to the vineyard, and I was alone, tending to the little things a home needs each day. 

 

That day, I decided to go to the far field beyond the olive trees to gather herbs and vegetables. The air was fresh, carrying the scent of rosemary and thyme. I bent down to pick some basil when suddenly… everything changed.

 

 

Indeed, when He shows up, Jehovah, He’d come unannounced but it will certainly be the most perfect time. That’s how this experience leaves me. 

 

The air grew still. The light became brighter, though the sun had not moved. 

 

I lifted my head, and……there He was!!!!

 

A Man, taller than anyone I had seen, yet not frightening. His robe shimmered faintly, and His eyes… His eyes looked very understanding, as though they knew every tear I had ever cried.

 

“Do not be afraid,” He said.

 

“You have not had children until now… but you will conceive and bear a son.”

 

My lips trembled. My hands felt weak. Did I hear him correctly? I’ll have a son? A son!

 

“You must drink no wine, eat nothing unclean,” He continued. “For the child will be a Nazirite to God from the womb. He will begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines.”

 

And before I could speak, He was gone.

 

I ran.

A son? A special son? For Yahweh! 

 

I could only recite that over and over again as I ran.

 

I didn’t even notice my basket falling to the ground. My heart was beating so hard I thought I would faint. When I reached the vineyard, I was breathing heavily.

 

My abrupt entry to the pressing room startled Manoah. 

 

“Do you want a cup of water?” Manoah asked, stepping toward me. “Calm down… breathe.”

 

I tried. In and out. My hands were still shaking.

 

Finally, I found my voice. “Manoah… I saw Him. A Man of God. An angel. He stood before me and told me… we will have a son, a very special son.”

 

Manoah’s eyes grew wide. “You saw… an angel? My wife, you saw an angel?!” He wiped the sweat from his brow. “Oh, Lord! Let this Man of God come again! We must know exactly what to do for this child!”

 

I left the vineyard to retrieve my lost basket and probably get the herbs I initially went to the hills for. I have been waiting to see that Man again all day but He has not come. We are both still waiting! 

 

We’ll wait, surely.

 

—————————————————————————————————————————-

 

(A few days later)

 

I am in so much awe of YahWeh as I write this entry in my diary. I haven’t stopped staring at the heavens and wondering how He knew me, remembered me, and honoured me this much!

 

When Manoah asked for another angelic visitation, we were both filled with hope more than ever that we’d have it. 

 

And the Lord heard him.

 

Not immediately, but He did come!

 

I was in the courtyard, grinding peppers to make curry. The warm scent of spice filled the air when I felt it again….that same stillness, that same weight of glory.

 

I looked up and there He was. The same angel.

 

My knees went weak, and I fell on my face. “Please,” I said, “wait here… let me fetch Manoah.”

 

 

I ran like paper in the wind, my shawl flying behind me. 

 

“Manoah! 

He’s here! 

The Man of God is here!”

 

Manoah didn’t even wait for me to finish my words, he just started running after me. Soon, he caught up with me but kept a steady pace so we arrived at the same time.

 

We returned, and the angel was still standing there, waiting, patiently. 

 

We fell on our faces before Him.

 

Manoah asked with a trembling yet certain voice, “When this child comes… what will his life be like? What will be his mission?”

 

The angel’s voice was steady: “Let her keep all I have commanded her.”

 

Manoah gently raised his head,  his eyes searched the angel’s face. “You are real… you are truly from the Lord,” he said softly. “Then we must honour the Lord.”

 

We offered a young goat on a rock, the choicest we could find in the flock. The flames rose and then, right before our eyes, the angel stepped into the fire and ascended to heaven in the flame. We fell to the ground, trembling.

 

We were honoured by God!

 

———————————————————-

 

‘I am yet to recover from that moment. 

 

Not long after, I began to feel the promise grow within me. 

Months passed, and then… Samson was born, our son, God’s special gift to us. 

 

My arms were no longer empty.

 

My heart was full. 

And every time I looked at him, I remembered the field, the voice, the light,  the day my story changed forever. 

 

Oh, glory be to the God of my fathers who chose me!

 

LESSONS FROM MANOAH’S WIFE DIARY

Hmm… yes sisters, the daisy whose pages of her diary we have just read now is Manaoh’s wife! 

 

Can you feel these pages from Manoah’s wife’s diary?

 

This woman was a lowly woman. A humble woman. A sweet woman. She feared God and loved Him. She was also vulnerable before her husband.

 

This woman whose real name we are not privy to in the Scriptures shows so much contentment being remembered in history as ‘wife’ to Manoah and not by her given name at birth. She delighted in being ‘nameless’ but called by her husband’s name. She had absolutely no contempt for his name.

 

Also read why should I take my husband’s name after wedding

 

Did you notice? When she told Manoah what the angel said, she didn’t say, “Well, the angel already spoke to me and that’s enough. Why do you need to hear it too?” 

 

No! She didn’t get offended that her husband wanted confirmation. She didn’t think he was competing with her. She simply agreed, humbly: “Yes, let the angel come again and speak to you too.”

 

And when the angel did return, she didn’t say, “Let me handle this myself.” No, she ran and called Manoah. She wanted him to be part of the moment. She honoured him enough to say, “Come, come, come, you need to hear this too!”

 

Sisters, many of us, when God tells us something, we want our husbands or whoever is involved to jump immediately, to do what we think should be done right away just the way we want it.

 

But the God who spoke to you is also able to speak to your husband and to the other people involved.

 

Give Him time.

 

Trust Him.

 

Look through Scripture:

 

The Lord spoke to Ananias, but He also spoke to Saul.

 

He spoke to Peter, and He also spoke to Cornelius.

 

He spoke to Mary, yet also to Joseph.

 

He spoke to Mary and witnessed it to Elizabeth as well as the baby in her womb!

 

This is how God works! His confirmations bring unity, not competition, confusion or discord.

 

And another lesson from this diary is that the children God gives us are not just “ours” to raise however we want. Manoah’s wife received instructions about Samson even before he was conceived. God made it clear from the onset that they did not own Samson and they did not contend it. 

 

She didn’t guess how to raise him; she asked God and obeyed God.

 

Sisters, have you asked the Lord what He wants you to know about your children? 

 

Have you asked what He has planned for them, and how you can prepare them for it? 

 

Yes, even you as single sisters can start finding things out now! Oh yes! 

 

Finally, faith! She believed the word of the Lord would come to pass in her life. And when it did, she didn’t forget the Giver. 

 

She and Manoah offered sacrifice. 

 

They gave the glory back to God.

 

Rounding Off:

And here, sisters, we close today’s diary. What a fragrance it has left with us!

Do you want to read more diaries? Read other Episodes of Daisies in Diaries Here

Until next time, when another story unfolds, may your own life and mine also become a diary that whispers God’s faithfulness to generations after us. Amen.