The Accident and the Unseen.
This week on the podcast, I want to answer one of my favorite questions: Do we have guardian angels? It’s something we hear about all the time. People make references, they talk about being watched over, but is there truth to it? Do we have angels looking out for us?
John never thought much about angels until the night his life was nearly taken from him. He had been on a football trip to Crystal Brook, a small town north of Adelaide, playing with his local team. On the way back, he accepted a ride from his friend’s father, who had been drinking all day.
John had fallen asleep in the car. It was late, and the soft hum of the road lulled him into unconsciousness. What woke him was not gentle. It was the violent impact of metal and glass. The father had veered into the wrong lane and collided with a semi-trailer.
John should have died that night. The side of the car he was sleeping on was smashed in. The doctors later told him it was a miracle he survived. And as he sat there, dazed but alive, he felt something strange. A calm, peaceful feeling, as if he wasn’t alone.
Some might say it was the shock. But John couldn’t shake the idea that something, or someone, had intervened. Was it luck, or something more? He remembered the words from a podcast he once heard, about how Jesus says in Revelation 1 that He has sent angels to watch over His church.
Could it be? Could there really be guardian angels?
Chapter 2: A Miracle or Just Coincidence?
After the accident, John found himself questioning everything. He had always believed in God, but angels? That seemed far-fetched. Yet, he couldn’t forget the peace he felt after the crash, like someone had been there, watching over him.
He shared his thoughts with Matt, his skeptical friend. “Do you really think you have a guardian angel?” Matt asked with a smirk. “I mean, come on, people get in car accidents every day. Some make it, some don’t. You just got lucky.”
“Maybe,” John replied. “But something about that night felt different. It felt like I wasn’t alone.” He hesitated before adding, “I heard this guy on a podcast once talk about how the Bible says angels watch over us. He quoted Matthew 18:10, where Jesus says, ‘See that you do not despise one of these little ones. I tell you that in heaven, their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.’”
Matt shrugged. “That sounds like a stretch. But if it makes you feel better, who am I to argue?”
John didn’t push the point. He knew Matt would never believe without proof. But as he reflected on the podcast, he remembered the speaker had said something profound: Our hope is not in angels, but in the Lord who sends them.
Chapter 3: The Rich Man and the Reality of Spiritual Things
John’s work often took him to the homes of the wealthy. One of his regular clients was an extremely rich man, whose fortune could buy anything, even a French artist to paint gold leaf on the ceilings of his mansion. But despite all the money, John always sensed an emptiness in the man’s life.
One year, the man was diagnosed with cancer. His children began fighting over his wealth, and the house became a place of tension and anger. John tried to keep his distance, but one day, the man asked him to sit down for a chat.
They sat at the kitchen table, the man smoking a cigarette. “You know,” he said, “the doctors called it a modern-day miracle. They said I wouldn’t make it through last year, but here I am. My cancer’s in remission, and even my kids have calmed down.”
John thought back to the podcast. Do we have guardian angels? the speaker had asked. Could this man’s recovery be part of something larger?
“It’s funny,” John said after a moment, “I was just thinking about how Jesus said angels watch over us. Maybe you had some help you didn’t even know about.”
The man chuckled, but there was a seriousness in his eyes. “Maybe.”
Chapter 4: Signs in Everyday Life
Later that week, John was at the hairdresser’s when the conversation turned to Bill Gates. His hairdresser, a man from Cyprus, began telling him about a local tradition. “Back home, if someone wants to bless you, they’ll take a piece of your hair and nail it to a tree. As the tree grows, you’ll prosper. It’s like having a guardian.”
John smiled. “Like a guardian angel?”
“Exactly,” the hairdresser replied. “We believe the trees watch over us, just like angels might.”
John left the shop, his mind buzzing with connections. Could these old traditions, these stories, all point to something real? Something spiritual, unseen, but present? The testimony of Jesus Christ says He has sent angels to watch over His church, John remembered from the podcast. Was it possible that angels were watching over him, even now?
Chapter 5: Faith and the Unseen
The idea of guardian angels had become more than just a passing thought for John. He was beginning to see signs everywhere. The car accident, the rich man’s recovery, even the hairdresser’s story about trees and blessings. But doubt still lingered.
John found himself in church one Sunday, sitting quietly as the pastor spoke. His mind drifted to something else the podcast had said: When you’re gathered for public worship, you are not just in the presence of God, you are in the presence of the angels that the Lord has sent to watch over His church.
He looked around the room. Could it be true? Could angels really be there, unseen but present? It was a glorious thought, but also unsettling. What if they were real? What if they had been there all along, watching him, protecting him?
As the service ended, John realized that belief in angels wasn’t about proof or evidence. It was about faith. The Bible spoke of angels, not just as symbols, but as real beings sent to guard God’s people.
John walked out of the church, feeling a sense of peace, the same peace he had felt after the accident. Maybe, just maybe, angels were real. But whether they were or not, he knew one thing for sure: His ultimate hope wasn’t in angels. It was in the One who sent them.
