Angelic Rescue"Angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation." (Hebrews 1:14) I experienced an angelic visitation in 1983. I recently gone through a divorce. I was hurt and broken hearted. I trusted no one. I quit praying and reading my Bible. I was running from God. One morning as I drove to work, the rain turned to sleet. I was in my Volkswagen two door hatchback on a rural road. As I was going up a hill, I noticed small spots of ice developing on the road. Just then a semi truck hauling an extra wide load crested the top of the hill. In order to miss hitting each other head on, I swerved. The truck passed me without any problems. But now, on the downside of the hill my car was spinning out of control. It spun around five times before slamming into the curb. The force was so tremendous it threw my car up into the air flipping it upside down. It landed in the cold creek running parallel to the road. No one saw the accident. The only vehicle I had passed all morning was the truck.
On impact I hit my head on the roof and the window vents popped up. None of the other windows were impacted and remained closed. Cold water and mud were now pouring into the car. Covering me in its freezing cold sludge. I looked for a way to escape, but there was no way out. There was only an inch above the waterline where I could look through the windows to see outside. Then the desperate reality of my situation hit me.. I’m going to die in this car! It was then I prayed for the first time in six months. I called out to God for help. Within seconds of my prayer, I heard a tapping on the passenger window. I strained to see above the water line. Standing in the water was a man. He had the most beautiful smile and the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. His hair was sandy blonde and pulled back in a ponytail. He wore a red bandana around his forehead and a red plaid flannel shirt. He pointed to the ignition. My keys were still in it. I then understood he wanted me to hand him the keys in order to open the hatchback door, which couldn’t be opened from the inside. As I went to hand him the keys I remembered I couldn’t open the door or the window. I looked at the man with questions in my eyes. How was I to get these keys to him? Then suddenly he reached through the window without breaking the glass and took the keys. I couldn’t believe what I had just seen, but wrote it off to being in shock.
The man opened the hatchback and called me to him. I crawled through the mud and water to the back of the car. He reached in and lifted me into his arms. As my hand rested on his shoulder, the familiar and comforting feel of his soft cotton flannel shirt, a memory from my childhood, helped to soothe my fears. He said with a delightful tone, “You’re taller than I thought.” I really didn’t care what he thought about my height, I just wanted to be on dry land and safe. As he turned us around to walk to the edge of the road, he slipped a little on the creek's muddy floor. As he regained his footing he let out a laugh. I detected absolutely no fear in this man. This brought me a familiar peace.
As we reached the road, he gently helped me stand to my feet. He put his left arm around my shoulders and as we crossed the road together he said, “From now on everything will be all right.” He guided my shivering cold body to a small school bus that had pulled over. As we climbed the steps into the bus, the female bus driver didn’t say a word. Just stared at me. I thought to myself I must look awful all covered with mud and water from the top of my head to my boots. The man led me to the first row seat and helped me sit down. Before he turned to leave, he looked me straight in the eye. I felt like he could see right into my soul. He smiled his broad engaging grin once again and said, “From now on everything’s going to be all right.” He turned, stepped out of the school bus. He walked to an old beat up rusty pick up truck parked directly in front of the school bus. As he began to drive away, I noticed the truck didn’t have a license plate. But I didn’t care. At that point I was just thankful to be alive. As I continued to watch the truck, it seemed to be vanishing. Not due to the distance, but because it was simply dematerializing before my eyes! Now I knew I was in shock.
When a police officer arrived on the scene he asked me many questions about the accident. After preliminary questions about my personal information, one of his last questions was, “How did you get out of the car?” I looked over at the school bus driver as my witness to what I was about to say, because I knew she had seen the man carry me out. I answered, “A man opened the hatchback and carried me out.” The police officer turned to look at the bus driver for her response and she shook her head no and said, "She got out of the car by herself." The police officer then asked me, “If a man helped you out, where is he now?” I answered, “He drove away in his pickup truck.” The police officer asked, “If he drove away, what was the license plate number on his truck?” I answered, “It didn’t have a license plate.” With that answer, the frustrated police officer said, “I’m taking you to the hospital to be examined.”
When we arrived a nurse approached me requesting a urine sample. At the time, I didn’t know they thought I was on drugs or drunk, which would explain my crazy answers. When the test came back negative, the doctor quickly ordered a complete cat scan of my brain thinking I had experienced head injuries, which would explain my ridiculous explanation of the man who saved me. These tests came back negative as well. The only injury I sustained was a bump on the top of my head and a bruised shoulder. Before the doctor released me to go home, he said, "I don't know what happened to you out there, but you are very fortunate to have escaped the accident with your life and no injuries. Go home and rest."
Home in bed, I reflected on my near death experience. Even though I had been running from God, He rescued me. Overwhelmed with the realization of God's unconditional love, I prayed and picked up my Bible. It divinely opened to Psalm 18 and my eyes were directed to these verses, “He reached down from heaven and rescued me; He drew me out of deep waters. He delivered me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and were too strong for me. They attacked me when I was my weakest, but the Lord upheld me. He led me to a place of safety; He rescued me because He delights in me."