MATHEWS: Guardian angels have nothing better to do
Published 3:49 pm Saturday, January 25, 2025
- The Rev. Mathews (BA, MDiv, JD) is a faith columnist and the author of Reaching to God and Emerald Coast: The Vendetta. Contact her at Hello@RAMathews.com. Copyright © 2024 R.A. Mathews. All rights reserved.
Getting your player ready...
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By R.A. Mathews
At 7:24 a.m. last Sunday, my BBF, Best Beloved Friend, who lives far from me in a mountainous region of the United States, texted pictures of her snow-covered vehicle with the message: âHere we go again.â
She has sent a number of snowy pictures this year â theyâve had a bad winter.
At 9:05 a.m., she sent pictures of everyone in her grandparentsâ Lincoln Navigator: her 81-year-old grandfather, 76-year-old grandmother, mother, aunt and uncle. The message read: âFinal pictures of us since we will most likely die driving to church.â
Sheâs very funny, and we usually send pictures back and forth as we text. This was nothing out of the ordinary.
At 11 a.m., as I was worshipping the Lord, I parted my Bible, searching for a topic for this newspaper column. It opened to one of the most powerful angel stories in scripture.
At 11:13 a.m., she sent pictures of their bad icy roads.
At 11:21 a.m., she wrote, âStuck in a ditch with my family. Please pray. Oh, my goodness, Iâm crying. Iâm so scared.â
At 11:24 a.m., âIf I die, I just want you to know Iâve had the pleasure of you being my best friend. OK, Iâm really serious.â
I thought this was so sweet and also funny.
At 11:36 a.m., she said roadside service wouldnât be there for three hours. I told her to get an Uber. She said she wouldnât leave her family, and I responded, âTake them with you.â Her answer: âThey canât get out⊠â
Thatâs when I realized this wasnât a simple roadside incident and immediately reassured her: âYou all have a guardian angel! Pray for your guardian angel to speak to someone who can help you!â
I prayed to God, sought my angelâs help, and then contacted the fire department. I told her to dial 9-1-1, but her aunt discouraged her.
I later learned they were on an icy single-lane road with a steep mountain on one side and a drop-off to death on the other, thanks to no guardrail. Fortunately, they had slid toward the mountain with the Navigator now nearly on its side up against a huge boulder. She was grateful it hadnât crashed the passenger-side windows, throwing glass everywhere.
As soon as the wreck happened, her grandfather called their pastor and left a message.
At 12:02 p.m., the sheriff arrived and roadside assistance soon followed. The Navigator had to be lifted, what they call a ârecovery.â It couldnât be towed â thatâs how badly the vehicle was situated.
Minutes later, I told her, âThank goodness! All the angels got together!â
I believe thatâs what happened and confirmed the timing with her. It was sometime near 11:44 a.m. when their pastor discovered the message, called the sheriff, and secured assistance. In other words, he moved into action after we began praying to God and for everyoneâs guardian angels to put their heads together.
I am not Roman Catholic, but I learned details about guardian angels from Pope John Paul II. And remember, just before I saw her text messages, God had led me to read one of the most powerful angel scenes in Scripture. Itâs about Assyrian King Sennacherib.
The Britannica says Assyria had âunited most of the Middle East from Egypt to the Persian Gulf,â which means the brutal nation had conquered everything in the region. A formidable foe, the Assyrians were greatly feared. The Britannica cites a âseries of strong Assyrian kingsâ including Sennacherib.
Archaeology found that Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem when Hezekiah was king but could not take the city. Thatâs big!
Historians suggest a plague struck the enemy army, but the prophet Isaiah wrote the exact reason in the 8th century B.C., long before any archaeological find!
Isaiah told Hezekiah, âTherefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: âHe will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here⊠I will defend this city and save it⊠â
âThat night the angel of the LordâŠ. put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morningâthere were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib . . . broke camp and withdrew⊠One day, while he was worshiping⊠his god, his sonsâŠ. killed him with the sword⊠â (2 Kings 18:32-37).
Pope John Paul II said, âThe modern mentality does not see the importance of angels,â but Scripture has one angel story after another. I am releasing âReaching to God â The Angels Editionâ later this year.
Ask for your angelâs intervention as we did last Sunday. Once you begin, youâll never forget that your guardian angel has nothing better to do than help you.
Contact the Rev. Mathews at RAMathews.com. Copyright © 2025 R.A. Mathews. All rights reserved.