Entertaining Angels Without Knowing It
Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? Hebrews1:14 (NIV)
Most of us do not think much about angels, much less look for their presence in our lives. But that does not mean that they are not looking for us and actively engaged in helping us. Contrary to some caricatures, they are not rosy cherubs floating on clouds carrying harps. They are servants of God, indued with His power and authority and sent to earth to serve His people and His purposes.
Although in some cases they appear as angels, frequently they take on human form. In the Bible we read of the appearances in person of majestic angels like Gabriel. (Luke 1) Those kind of angelic visitations are unmistakable and awe inspiring. Modern day accounts from those whom have had the privilege of seeing angels in person confirm this. But most of the time angels travel incognito, posing as human beings, and unless the Lord reveals their identity to us we are unaware of their presence. God clues us in to this in the book of Hebrews. We are told that some strangers who come into our lives may actually be angels. (Hebrews 13:2) Imagine having an encounter with an angel and not realizing it until afterward. There were people in the Bible, like Lot, who had that experience. He met two men in the public square, offered them shelter for the night and they turned out to be two angels sent by God to rescue him and his family before the destruction of Sodom. (Genesis 19)
Last week was a flurry of activity for my wife and I and our extended family. We all were involved to some degree in preparing for the big Saturday departure of our daughter Annie for a two year teaching commitment in Turkey. Such partings are always fraught with emotion, last “good” good-byes and prayers for protection.
Our other two daughters, Sarah and Carrie, took Annie out for a farewell luncheon on Thursday. All three have traveled extensively. Over lunch, as they compared travel notes, they discovered each of them had an angel story to tell. All three of them shared how a stranger had come into their lives at a critical time of need in their travels.
Sarah shared how she found herself late one night, having just arrived in Sidney, Australia, looking for the hostel where she had a reservation. The taxi let her out and as she was wandering along looking for the youth hostel she found herself in a very seedy part of town. She finally went into a small hotel and was met right inside the door by a man who asked if she was “Sarah.” “How did he know my name?” she wondered. Amazed, she said “Yes.” “Follow me” he said and proceeded to lead her out of that hotel, through the darkened streets and alleys. He brought her to an idyllic little bed and breakfast type place where they had a reservation for her. It surprised her because it was not the hostel where she made her initial reservation. Upon their arrival there, the man disappeared and she never saw him again. To her, he could only have been an angel.
Carrie shared how she and her husband Benji were in transit from Nepal to India when their flight departure was delayed. When they finally arrived in Delhi in hopes of catching their connecting flight to their final destination in India they were told it was impossible for them to board that flight. The plane was located at a distant concourse and in fact was already boarded and ready to pull away from the gate. There were a number of other passengers with them who were also booked on that flight. Just then a woman they had never seen, came up to them through the crowd with their boarding passes. She asked, “Are you Carrie and Benji?” Flabbergasted they said “Yes.” She told them to follow her without delay. She proceeded to whisk them past lines, through security check points and crowds of people directly to their gate. Amazingly the door of the plane was just being prepared for closure as they boarded. No one else from their other fight made it. Who was that woman? She had to be an angel. You see Carrie’s passport did not carry her married name because they had been wed just weeks earlier. There is no way anyone would have known that “Carrie and Benji” went together, let alone picked them out in a crowd.
Annie had a travel angel story to share as well. She was all alone in a big city trying to catch a ride to an early morning flight. She had arranged for ride with a cab company, but the cab never came. Standing outside in the dark, with a dead cell phone she began to panic. Just then a white limousine pulled up. A man stepped out of the car and asked if she was Anne Stuart. He had a very friendly and comforting demeanor. He told her that he was there to take her to the airport and even knew her flight number. She was aghast. He was not with the cab company she had contacted. He delivered her safely to the airport, on time and in luxury. And to top it off, he refused her payment for the ride. Now was that an angel or what?
When Annie recounted these three stories to Susan and me, we were both overwhelmed by God’s gracious angelic visitations in their lives. But most importantly, we were encouraged, along with them, that He would continue to do the same for Annie as she embarked on her new adventure.
Do you have any angel stories to tell?
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13 Responses to “Entertaining Angels Without Knowing It”
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4 minutes agoSent from ChatJudy Storgaard
I never told you this but. When I was living in sin out at the farm with Helen’s dad, we had cattle dieing. He called the vet. I was at the farm alone when the vet came. He helped me with a hiefer that was in early labor. He was so kind to me. He told me how much the Lord loved me and that He would be there for me no matter what. This guy had a white truck and he was wearing white. Then he left. Later that day the vet clinic called and told me that the vet wouldn’t be able to come till the next day. ???? I called back later to tell them of the guy that came and they said they didn’t have white truck nor did thier guys didn’t wear white. No bill was ever sent to the house for the visit. I believe he was an angel who came to help me out of my dispare…
Amazing story Judy. Thank you for sharing it!
A very dear friend of mine told me this story. He was swimming back from a diving dock to shore, he developed a leg cramp and started to panic and go under water. Just the another person who he described as very blond and with a great tan swam by him. This person said just put your feet down you will be able to touch. So Lee stopped and put his feet down and was able to touch the bottom with the water just below his chin. He turned to say thankyou to the person but there was no one around him. Lee was sure it was an angel and I would have to believe him.
I love angel stories. It always amazes me the human form these angelic beings take on in their service. Thanks for relating this unique story.
Several years ago when I could still walk long distances I needed to walk up to the local Pizza Hut to pick up my car from daughter who was working that evening. I wish I had a map to show you how this happened, but if you know Circle Pines you know the frontage road that goes past the Post Office. I was walking along that toward Pizza Hut when an SUV came out of a side road in front of me. It turned toward me and the driver rolled the window down. She was a lovely blonde lady and she said, “do you have your billfold?” I was taken aback that a stranger would ask me a question like that. She tried again, “I saw it fall out of your pocket back there.” She pointed behind me almost 500 yards away, and sure enough I could spot something on the ground. I turned back to thank her, but the SUV was gone. By all rights, I should have been able to see it going back toward my billfold, because that was the direction she was pointed in. I am convinced it was an angel. The fact that her English syntax wasn’t entirely correct has made me ponder this: what is the language of angels? Do they have to learn English like a foreigner in order to communicate with us? I am so grateful for her help that day.
Another distinctive appearance ! Thanks for sharing Doreen!
There is a humorous part 2 to this story. I retrieved my billfold and my car and went home. Shortly later the doorbell rang. There was young man dressed in jogging shorts and tee shirt at the door. A stranger to me. In his hand he held my billfold! (Yes! twice in the same day.) Dumbfounded I asked where he found it. He told me on the road by Pizza Hut, handed it to me and jogged off. I barely had time to say thanks. I always wondered if he too, was an angel, or just a helpful human. When I get to heaven I want to meet all the angels who have helped me. I wonder if I will recognize them.
My funny postcript to this is that I was telling Wayne what happened and marvelling at what must surely have been at least one angel. My oh so practical husband remarked…”hole in your pocket?” Oh. Never thought of that! Yes there was, and so there was a mending job done that night so the angels wouldn’t have to follow me around picking up my billfold anymore.
My mom tells the story of how she turned the wrong way on a one way street by Lake Harriet and a blond man in a truck appeared from nowhere and escorted her out of her delima and immediately disappeared after he helped her.
And another of her angel stories was when she was a young girl and was walking home and a man stopped and tried to pick her up (he wasn’t nice) and the next thing she knew, she was at her house and she didn’t know how she got there. Later on the news was that this man was a child molester.
I’m sure we all have entertained and have been helped by angels- just shows how much God really cares for and looks out for us during our time here on planet earth.
In 1976, I was driving a 1953 Chevrolet we owned “just for fun” to the bank in Uptown. When I came out to the parking lot behind the bank, I couldn’t get the car started. A kind old man appeared outside the driver’s side window and asked if I needed help. He told me step by step how to start the car. When it started, I turned to my left to say “thank you” and he was gone! I’m sure it was an angel.
We (Dave, Paul and I) had gone up to our cabin for 4th of July week-end this year. I was able to get off early on the 1st (Friday) so we could beat the traffic. Luke and his girlfriend were going to come up on Saturday. We got up there around 2pm. It was hot so we ate an early cold supper. Paul decided to go next door to my Dad’s because he had air conditioning. By 5pm the clouds were getting more and more ominous and looking out our dining room window we could see a wall cloud coming across the lake – the power was out by this time so we didn’t hear any weather reports. The wind started to pick up – Dave started to close windows. I was still looking out the dining room window and a bald eagle landed in our front yard – he looked right at me – no more than 15 feet away and all I heard in my head was ‘my protection is over you’ and he flew away. I tried to get Dave to come and look at it – but it was just for me. In the next few minutes we were hit with 100mph straight line winds that seemed to last forever.I felt at peace even though scared. Dave and I were huddled behind the refrigerator – praying. When it finally stopped (or slowed down) we looked out to see no immediate damage to our cabin. We had a piece of someone else’s dock by ours but other than a lot of leaves down and a few little twigs – nothing we could see!
Paul came running over and asked if we were ‘ok’ – my dad had a huge pine tree ‘take out’ the neighbor’s awning on their RV – he had a tree on his garage and probably 20-30 more trees down in his woods. Our neighbor on the other side had his driveway (100 yd driveway) completely filled with trees – as high as their cabin. My brother’s driveway was the same way and most of theirs were uprooted 100-150 year old oaks – and on his cabin lots of roof damage. We did lose some trees in the back and 2 trees on the driveway. Other than that – not even a shingle was off the roof! Someone told me the Eagle was not just for the storm but He was also preparing me for the heart attack coming 10 days later.
God has always spoken to me thru nature – so angels can take many forms.
Diane
Thanks for your stories about your mother Ann.. God’s kindness to her through angelic help insured your safe passage to the planet as well.
It is always intriguing the form that angels take. Reminds me of Clarence in It’s a Wonderful Life. Do you think that old man was still trying to get his wings?
I happened to be reading your current post and reread this one from August. I am right now sitting in a Turkish airport after almost 30 hours of unexpected delays trying to get back to Turkey from the close distance of Lisbon. As I have been met with closed airports, unexpected snow storms in Rome, two delayed flights, one missed flight, and about 4 hours of sleep, not to mention having to buy a new ticket to get me the last leg of the trip, I have been reminded of God’s traveling mercies and have been praying for them to carry me through. I have comforted myself with the fact that there are angels amongst us and if this trip gets worse and I fall apart, an angel will be there to rescue me just as has happened before.
I haven’t had an angel encounter today but still felt God’s presence and was comforted by the kindness of the airline ticket agent who reduced the price of my new ticket and gave me napkins to wipe my crying eyes. She was about my own age but her sympathy touched me and gave me the tenderness I needed to keep moving through this uncomfortable trip home.
I am so glad that you have revolving blogs on your page because the angel blog was pertinent right now as much as the one on ceaseless prayer.
Moving one minute closer to home and my bed…..