Tobit 6:6-12: a reflection

6The young man said to the angel, “Brother Azarias, of what use is the heart, the liver, and the bile of the fish?” 7He said to him, “About the heart and the liver: If a demon or an evil spirit troubles anyone, we must burn those and make smoke of them before the man or the woman, and the affliction will flee. 8But as for the bile, it is good to anoint a man that has white films in his eyes, and he will be healed.” 9But when they drew near to Rages, 10the angel said to the young man, “Brother, today we will lodge with Raguel. He is your kinsman. He has an only daughter named Sarah. I will speak about her, that she should be given to you for a wife. 11For her inheritance belongs to you, and you only are of her kindred. 12The maid is fair and wise. And now hear me, and I will speak to her father. When we return from Rages we will celebrate the marriage; for I know that Raguel may in no way marry her to another according to the law of Moses, or else he would be liable to death, because it belongs to you to take the inheritance, rather than any other.”

As young Tobias travels on his father's errand, he is accompanied by a guide he knows only as Azariah, a fellow traveler who helps him along the way, advises him, and, as this passage shows, arranges his marriage to Sarah, his kinswoman. What Tobias does not know, though the reader does, is that his companion is the angel Raphael, sent by God to guide and protect him. God is leading and providing for Tobias through a guide he does not recognize for who he truly is.

Notice how God's care works in this story. Tobias thinks he is simply traveling with a helpful companion; in fact, God has sent an angel to guide his steps, protect him, and lead him to the good things God intends, including a wife and, later, healing for his father. The guidance is real and it is God's, but it comes through a means Tobias does not recognize as anything more than an ordinary traveling companion. God is at work in his journey more than he knows.

That is a picture of how God often guides and provides for us. His leading in our lives frequently comes through ordinary means, a companion, a piece of advice, a turn of circumstances, that we do not recognize, at the time, as the hand of God. Tobias walked with an angel and thought it was just a helpful friend. Looking back on our own journeys, we may see that God was guiding and providing through means we did not recognize as his at the time. Trust that God is at work in your journey more than you know, guiding and providing, often through means you do not yet see for what they are.

Lord, Tobias walked with an angel sent to guide and provide for him, though he did not recognize his companion for who he truly was. Thank you that you guide and provide in my life more than I know, often through ordinary means I do not recognize at the time as your hand. Help me trust that you are at work in my journey, leading and caring for me through companions, counsel, and circumstances. Open my eyes to see your guidance, and to trust it even when I cannot.