~~ Psalm 91:11-14(NIV84) ~~ For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
by Carley Cooper
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Photo by Carla Cooper
One of many Angels in my collection
All Copyrights Reserved |
This is the second article in my series on Angels. In my first post (Angels From Heaven) I talked about how some people in our lives are so special that we can only believe that they were sent to us by God. We know that they are real people; human beings who live on this planet with us, but they have been such a key factor in helping us at some point, that our only conclusion is that God purposely placed this individual in our life at this moment. There have been several, including my dogs, that I can look back and believe were my angels here on earth.
However, what about the traditional type of angels? That is those we see we can’t see because they’re really celestial beings. Most of us believe that we have at least one angel that is sent to protect us throughout our lives. Of course, some of us need a whole team of angels to keep us from the constant mess that we seem to have a talent for getting into. But, that’s a whole other blog! The trouble is, as I mentioned, we can’t see our heavenly BFFs (for those who were either born yesterday or never went to high school, BFF means Best Friend Forever). Imagine if we could look them in the eye every day. Think about it; we’d never be lonely, there would always be someone to give you advice, and someone to bounce an idea off of before you blurt it, out only to wish you could take it back. For the rest of your life there would always be someone to laugh at you when you fell or messed up. Plus, when you die your angel could stay behind for a day and wipe out your hard drive for you!
How do you know, with any certainty that you haven’t seen your angel? Just because we don’t see them every day, doesn’t mean that we have never seen them. There are millions of stories from people who have seen or done things that cannot be explained by mere human logic. One of these stories happened to one of my closest friends, Paul Duarte. I’ve invited him to write his story to post here as a Worship Melodies Guest Author. This is Paul’s true story!
God loves each and every one of us. In His eyes we are all celebrities. That’s why we need our divine body guards; to protect us from the underworld’s paparazzi, or worse!
Who is Your Guardian Angel?
by Paul Duarte
Psalm 23:4 (KJV) Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Once upon a time, I was working in Toronto as a self employed courier and delivery man. I had a small three ton truck and subbed work from another company in Ajax, Ontario - I was on call pretty much anytime during the day or night. One day, on a cold and drizzly afternoon in February, I got a call sometime late afternoon to make a delivery to the small town of Bracebridge, an hour and a half north of the city. The weather was miserable, the day was dark and gloomy. It had been raining all day that day - so the ground and the roads were just a clear sheet of ice.
I did not fancy the thought of going out that afternoon at all, but I needed the money, so I went anyway. I figured since I was driving a heavy vehicle, if I took it easy I would be fine. At about forty five minutes into the trip, it was late afternoon and the dark started to close in. You need to remember that in February in Ontario, it starts getting dark at 4:30 PM. It started to drizzle and ice started to accumulate on the wipers. Visibility was next to zero, but I pressed on just in case it would get worse later. I did not want to get home in the middle of the night.
The bright city lights started to fade in my rear view mirror and I found myself in the country, no houses or buildings of any kind to be seen anywhere around me. Things were going smoothly, until I hit a patch of ice on the road where the road maintenance crew had not passed by with the salt trucks yet. I swerved to the right; I swerved to the left and no response. The truck only came to a full stop when I came crushing into a ditch. I took a walk around the truck and was relieved to see that there was no damage to the vehicle. It was cold and with the wind chill, it must have been a good minus-twenty outside.
I climbed back into the cab; I laid my hands on the wheel, rested my head between my hand and I started to pray. “Father, I come to you in my hour of need. You know the situation I am in. I have no radio, if I let the truck run with the heater going, I will run out of gas and I have no money or credit card to refill and only You Father, knows where the closest station is. I will surely die frozen before I am found. If I turn off the truck to conserve fuel, the end result will be the same because I am low and I need that fuel to get back home. So I am begging you Father, hear my prayer and make a miracle happen.”
I finished my prayer; I lay down on the seat and prepared myself for the worst. Not more than fifteen minutes later, I heard a tractor with chains on, coming up the road.
I thought to myself, “What the heck! Where did this guy come from? There were no farms, no roads and no driveways for mile.”
I thought nothing more of it. I needed help and here was this frail old man, all bundled up, in a rickety old farm tractor offering to get me out. I thought there is no way; this little tractor is going to pull out a three ton truck. But he insisted that he could and proceeded to hook up the chains to the rear of my rig.
He said to me in a firm but rusty voice, “Get in, start the engine and put it in reverse slowly.”
I did as he requested and low and behold, that little tractor pulled me out without any effort what-so-ever. I was dumb founded; I could not believe my eyes.
I said to the kindly old man, “look I am sorry but I don’t have any money on me, but what do I owe you anyway. I will send you some, I give you my word.”
The old guy replied, “I believe you would, but I don’t want any money.”
I said to him, “Well there must be something I can give you or do for you.”
He said, “There is something you can do for me.”
“What is that?” I replied.”
“Simply this! Whenever you come across someone in distress like you were, stop and help them just as I helped you.” He said.
“Ok,” I said.
“Promise me,” he said.
“I promise.” I told him.
I wanted to get his number anyway, because somehow I wanted to repay him for his kindness. So I asked him to wait while I got a pen and paper from the glove box. I headed towards the cab and I heard him start up the tractor. I got the pen quickly and came out to ask him to wait, but he and the tractor was gone. Vanished into thin air! I could see for quite a long distance up the road ahead of me, and behind me; he was nowhere in sight, and there were no side roads or driveways to turn into. Where did the old man and his little tractor go? I do not know.
I made my delivery and went home. For two days, I could not think of nothing else, but the events of that night. I cannot explain this story and some may think I was crazy and delusional from the cold. Even though I prayed to God, I was not a Christian back then, nor did I believe in miracles. But I tell you, from that day forth, I began to believe.
~~ Dear God ~~ thank you for all the blessings you bring before us, when we are too blind to see them. Thank you for your words when you speak to us, even when we are too deaf to hear them and thank you for all the miracles you bring before us, even when we too busy and fail to recognize them.” Amen
To learn more about Paul or to purchase his books, see his website at:
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