One of the things I love most about my monthly newsletter* is getting to know the lovely people who have chosen to subscribe to it because they enjoy reading “light through the cracks” stories and reflections.
So it always blesses my heart when any of them choose to share their own “light through the cracks” stories with me – and one that came to me, just recently, was from a wonderful woman called Janet.
“I am South African by birth, but I now live in rural Devon,” she wrote. “I have had some rather remarkable encounters with angels, and I wonder whether you might like to share them.”
My answer, of course, was, “Yes please!”
So these are some of her personal “light through the cracks” stories, weaved together, and shared here with her permission.
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When in her early twenties, Janet would regularly find herself feeling incredibly low. Although she was living in a beautiful seaside setting at that time, even such stunning scenery was not enough to lift her out of the doldrums.
One day, she decided to walk the coastal path, high on a cliff top, looking out to sea. As she was walking, she was talking with God, telling him how she was feeling.
Suddenly, she sensed a huge angel coming alongside her, walking at exactly the same pace. Rather than feeling fearful, she felt a sense of peace and excitement. Maybe God had heard her prayers, and this angel had been sent to minister to her?
Spying a bench up ahead, she decided she would use it as an opportunity to sit and enjoy the angel’s company. But before she got there, she sensed the angel disappearing.
“I felt devastated,” she recalls. “I knew that, if I ever sensed an angel walking with me again, I would need to respond differently by simply enjoying the moment.”
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A few years later, Janet is in a job that requires a long commute by car. She regularly sees the sun setting, as she drives home at the end of each day.
“Lord God, please keep me safe on the roads today,” she prays, “Make me alert to other drivers and what’s going on around me.”
On one particular day, as she heads for home, she suddenly senses an angel sitting in the passenger seat alongside her in the car. Recalling her cliff top experience from a few years earlier, she decides to enjoy his company.
“Lord God,” she prays, “I’m not sure why you’ve sent an angel to be with me today, but thank you. I appreciate his presence with me. Please help me enjoy it.”
Barely has her prayer been articulated, when her journey joins the motorway, where she progressively manoeuvres her car into the fast lane.
She has no recollection of what happens next.
A few moments later, Janet jolts awake, only to discover the car has crossed multiple lanes of the motorway and is heading onto the hard shoulder, still facing the right direction.
She has been asleep at the wheel.
She corrects her steering, narrowly avoiding a large ditch running parallel to the motorway, and continues to drive towards home.
She realises she hasn’t overcorrected her steering, even though that would have been instinctive in the situation.
She also realises the angel has gone.
“I believe God sent the angel to steer my car safely across the motorway when I fell asleep,” she says, “and to wake me up in time to guide me safely back onto the road.”
For the remainder of her journey, Janet rejoices.
“I praised and thanked God all the way home,” she says. “I couldn’t believe there had been no incident, no accident, and no cars behind me that could have crashed into me.”
Now when she senses angels, Janet is on high alert, just in case God has commissioned them to provide protection.
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What do you make of Janet’s story? Have you ever encountered an angel when you aren’t expecting it? What was the context and how did you feel? Why do you think God sent that particular angel to help you?
As ever, constructive comments are welcome below.
Also, if you want to read more of my blog stories about angelic encounters, you can do so here.
Photo from stefzn via Unsplash
3 Comments
I have never seen an angel, but I have experienced something very similar, which I believe could only have been an angel. A group of friends and I were in a car, driving home from a women’s conference. We were all very tired, but also very excited by what we had seen and experienced at the conference. I wasn’t driving. We were in heavy traffic but moving, when suddenly a car cut across the car in front of us. The driver in the car in front of us slammed on his brakes. I knew there was no way my friend was going to brake fast enough to avoid going into the back of the car in front, at some speed. And then, for a split second it seemed as if time stopped and our car came to an abrupt stop, inches from the back of the vehicle in front. As if some outside force had stood and pushed our car back. To this day I believe an angel stood between our car and the one in front.
Wow Joy! You must have felt both shaken and relieved! I wouldn’t be surprised at all if, one day, you discover that it was indeed an angel who stood between your car and the one in front. Thank you for sharing this incredible story.
Wow Joy! What an incredible experience. It sounds like an angel, to me, that stopped the car you were in. God is amazing how he sends angels to help us at times.