Call me crazy, but I do. And not just because angels are mentioned so many times in scripture.

On several occasions my wife and I have had someone rescue us from dangerous — even life-threatening — situations. And in all but one instance, we never knew them, or had an opportunity to find out who they were.

Back before most of us started carrying cell phones, my wife was driving our small pick-up truck one night, and she had our two oldest sons were with her. She was on the Capital Beltway (I-495) in Virginia when the truck suddenly died. So she coasted onto the narrow, right shoulder, which had a large concrete barrier that made it very difficult to get out of the truck. Soon after the motor quit, the battery died. The lights were out. No emergency flashers. Nothing.

Cars were flying by just inches from the left side of the truck, when a guy pulled up behind the pickup truck, rushed my wife and sons into his car, and took them to a nearby gas station. My wife got out of his car to talk to the service station attendant, and by the time she turned around to thank her rescuer, he was gone.

That was the most recent “out-of-the-blue” rescue.

The first time I remember being rescued by someone I was ten years old. I was at Ocean City, Md., with my mom and several other family members. They were sun bathing on the beach while I was jumping waves with a huge crowd. It seemed that as the waves got bigger, so did the crowd.

Then, when I jumped a very large wave and came down, I could hardly touch the sand on the bottom. After the next wave, I couldn’t touch at all. Even between waves the water’s depth was well over my head. Within seconds I was way beyond the breakers,  swimming as hard as I could toward shore, but still being pulled away from the beach.

As I continued to swim, dog-paddle, and then swim some more, I could see my uncle standing on the shoreline, waving frantically for me to come back in. Apparently he couldn’t tell how hard I was trying!

Back then I didn’t know what a rip-current was… But I did know I was alone, very tired, and getting scared.

Then I heard a voice say, “I’ve got you.” And someone behind me grabbed the waste of my swimsuit and started pushing me toward the shore. Soon I could touch sand again between the waves, and before I knew it, I was standing in the breakers.

I walked up to my mom and my uncle and they asked me what happened. I turned around to show them who had helped me get in… but once again the rescuer was gone.

On another occasion, when I was 13, I had an operation for a hernia. The morning following the operation I was given a shot  of demerol for pain. The nurse who gave it to me went off duty without recording it, so the new nurse gave me a duplicate shot.

Minutes later breakfast came. While I was still eating, propped up in the hospital bed, I fell asleep. Then I stopped breathing. And finally my heart stopped.

The man in the bed next to mine buzzed the nurses’ station. No one came quickly, so he jumped out of bed and ran down the hall to get someone. Fortunately, Mrs. Deputy, the head nurse, came quickly and gave me a heart massage and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, which brought me back to life.

Again, I have no idea who my rescuer was… but I’m glad he didn’t wait any longer for a nurse to arrive.

There was another life-saving incident when I actually knew the rescuer’s name, but I’m still convinced he was an angel. Maybe I’ll tell that story someday, too… In the mean time, if you find yourself in trouble, don’t hesitate to ask Him for help. You might just find angels in your midst.

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands…     – Psalm 91:11-12

See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.     – Matt. 18:10

He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully…     – Luke 4:10

Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?     – Heb. 1:14

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
     – Heb. 13:2

During our trip home from Long Island my wife and I talked about the things we had been reading in our paperback Bibles. I didn’t immediately believe it all. As a matter of fact, I had doubts about a lot of things.

After we got home I went back to working in my head shop, but when there were no customers in the store I read my Bible and tried to understand it. I couldn’t figure out whether God was angry with me for my sins and I was hopelessly condemned, or if He was merciful and kind like Jesus.

When the couple that had been praying for us earlier found out that I was trying to learn about God, the husband dropped by my shop. When he came in I was reading the Bible, so he asked if I understood what it was all about. I told him I wasn’t sure, so he went out to his car and got a copy of a local Jesus newspaper and turned to the back page where there was a concise outline of the Bible’s message, similar to the Four Spiritual Laws.

It suddenly became clear: God loves us. We have sinned and are separated from Him. Jesus took our punishment and died for our sins so we could be reconciled to God. If we believe and ask Him, we can actually have the Holy Spirit live in us and work through us.

I asked God to forgive me and told Him I wanted His Holy Spirit.

Afterward, my wife and I started looking for other Jesus people in our area, and we learned about a group who met in a log cabin on Saturday nights in Oakton, Virginia. At the time Oakton was “way out in the country” and the road to it was narrow and winding.

The Log Cabin "Church" Has Grown Substantially

It was dark the first time we headed to a meeting at the log cabin. On the way, we talked about what we had been reading in our Bibles. One of us had just read about Joshua, and the other had read about Elijah.

As we crested a hill and went around a curve on that dark country road, we almost hit a parked car. We stopped and asked the driver if he needed help and he told us he had run out of gas. So we took him back towards town and got some gas, and then brought him back to his car.

For a guy who had run out of gas in the middle of nowhere, he was in a very good mood. We really enjoyed talking to him. When we let him out of the car with his gas can, we asked what his name was, and he said “Joshua.” We thought that was funny. And then he said, “My middle name is Elijah,” and shut the car door.

We were stunned. Was he joking? How did he know we were talking about Joshua and Elijah before we picked him up? Later, when we read Hebrews 13:2, we knew we had “entertained angels without knowing it.”

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.