Eight years ago, Michael Black of Afton, Wyoming was diagnosed with dementia. In recent years he has sometimes wandered from his home but each time was located within a few hours a short distance away. Last month he was missing for more than two days. He’s back home now, but the way he was found led one person to speculate that he has a guardian angel.
Black was located in Salt Lake City, Utah, about 200 miles from his Wyoming home, having apparently hitchhiked his way there. Someone saw him at a bus station and offered him a ride to a local rescue mission. Though it was later than the mission normally stayed open, they agreed to let him come in and stay.
A news crew came the next day to the mission to film guests being served Thanksgiving meals. Back in Afton, Black’s wife turned on the late-night news and spotted her husband in the news clip. Early the next morning, Thanksgiving morning, Black was picked up at the shelter and returned to his home. His wife, Avril, reflected on how things had worked out: “Boy does he have some guardian angel looking after him!”
Is that the explanation of how Michael Black found his way back home? Are there really guardian angels that watch out for people?
The world may scoff at the idea, but angels are real. There are many accounts throughout the Bible in which they play prominently. In Genesis 28:12 we read about Jacob’s dream: “Behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.” We learn from Daniel 6:22 how Daniel survived a night in the den of lions: “My God send His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me.” Angels are spirit beings who serve the Lord in powerful ways.
But is it true that an angel is assigned to each person who is born, invisibly accompanying them every step of their lives and acting to save them from deadly situations? That’s the thought developed in the Christmas movie, “It’s A Wonderful Life”. The angel Clarence rescued George Bailey from death.
The Bible doesn’t teach one guardian angel assigned to each person on earth, but it does say this in Hebrews 1:14: “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” That means that angels are (at least occasionally) sent to assist God’s people. No specifics are mentioned in that passage, but the truth of angelic help is unmistakable.
God to use angels to sometimes help His people shows that our heavenly Father really does care about us. He sends help in different forms when help is needed.
Come to the light God offers! Study His word, the Bible. Worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss these ideas further.
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Timothy D. Hall
