by Dale Reeves
Story Pastor
It’s been a little over a year now, right around my birthday last September. My wife and I had enjoyed exploring the beauty of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine with my two siblings and their spouses. My wife, sister, and brother-in-law were doing the two-day drive back to Ohio while I flew home from Portland, Maine, so I could be back to church on Sunday. My flight was arriving at CVG late that Saturday night. I would grab our white Saturn Vue in long-term parking and then head to my daughter and son-in-law’s condo in northern Kentucky to pick up our schnauzer Daisy. Everything was going as planned until I crossed the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge on I-471. The car started to hydroplane because of the extreme amount of rain that had been dumped on the streets in just a few hours.
I slowed down as I entered Ohio, and then it happened again as I was almost to exit 6 on I-71 at the Smith-Edwards Rds. interchange. This time before I knew it, the car was spinning out of control and yet it was going in slow motion. (If you’ve ever been in a wreck, you know what I mean.) I remember looking down at my dog’s concerned look on her face, as she sat in the floorboard of the passenger seat and we continued to spin. The Vue collided with the huge concrete slab in the middle of the interstate once, then spun, and hit again, shattering the glass of the back side window before doing a complete 360. Daisy and I were catapulted back onto I-71 in the middle lane, perfectly positioned heading due north as the car battery was quickly dying.
I had enough time while the car was spinning to pray out loud, “Dear God, please don’t let me hit another vehicle.” He answered that petition I voiced at 11:30 pm. And as the car came to a complete stop, and I tried to turn on the emergency flashers, I realized I had no power as the lights inside and out were now dead. As semis whizzed past me on both sides, I thought to myself, What do I do now? I definitely should not get out of the car, but I don’t want to get hit from the rear because cars can’t see me in the pouring rain and darkness. Daisy girl was shaking. I kept praying, and before long someone had called 911 and a police car showed up behind me, flashing its lights so other motorists could see me.
About five minutes later, I was sitting in the back of a police cruiser on the side of the road, holding my dog and my luggage from our trip, while the police retrieved the dog cage, my golf bag, umbrella, and other items from the back of the now totaled Vue. I don’t have a selfie to prove this, but I wish I did. The thought did cross my mind to ask one of the police officers to take a photo of us in the backseat, but I didn’t act on that thought. Not too long after that my son-in-law Dan picked Daisy and me up at the Norwood Police Station, as he quipped, “I always knew I’m be picking you up here sometime!”
As we headed back to Dan and Rachel’s condo to try to get some sleep, Daisy and I were still shaking from the episode and I began to think about how God had protected me that evening. Tears welled up in my eyes. The next morning I could barely talk about it with my wife as I shared how God’s angels had been on the interstate with me that night.
Do you have any angel stories? Do you believe that God sends his angels to look out for his people? What happens when worse things happen to people than what happened to me? Was God not there in those situations, or did he have other purposes in mind? Or is all of this just coincidence?
I’ve often prayed for divine intervention and angelic protection in a particular situation. I really don’t think we pray for this protection enough. As we move into a season where we think about ghosts and goblins and spiritual darkness, I believe there is a spiritual world that is largely unseen by us. If we believe in the power of Satan and his demons to attempt to thwart the work of God, we must believe in the existence of angels whom God rallies to protect those who have called him their commander in chief. I believe there are way more angels at work on our behalf than we often realize.
The Bible says that angels are ministering spirits sent from Heaven to look out for God’s people. Every time angels appear to people in the Bible, they are like the Blues Brothers—on a mission from God! We read in Hebrews 1:14, “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? (NIV).
Billy Graham said this: “Angels are real, just as real as you and I are. Although they are largely unseen by us, they exist in great numbers.”
In his book, The Truth About Angels and Demons, pastor and author Tony Evans says, “The angels are at your disposal when what you seek aligns with God’s will.
There is a scene in the book of Revelation that describes millions of angels surrounding the throne, forever worshiping our God. They exist for the purpose of giving glory to him forever and ever. What a scene that will be. We know that the Bible says that the angels throw a party when someone who is lost comes to redemption. The angels know how to celebrate and worship, and they exist to glorify our Father. When you are worshiping and serving our God, that is when you are most like the angelic army of Heaven.
I am grateful that we have a God who surrounds us with an army of light. He wants us to put on our armor daily, and not be unaware of the devil’s schemes. We don’t have to fear the enemy and the darkness that he can bring in the midst of the storms and deluges of life. When we ask God to protect us, and send his ministering angels to be among us, we may not see them physically, but we know they have our back. Every time you pray over your children, or decide to renounce a sin you are reclaiming territory the enemy has tried to steal. You are participating in God’s victory over the powers of this dark world, and over the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. And, you are NOT ALONE!
Psalm 34:4-7, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them” (NIV).