“For He will give his angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways.”
Psalm 91:11 (NIV)
We all begin life with a personal guardian angel who is appointed to guard us in all our ways, from womb to tomb. (Matthew 18:10)
This guardian is one of the benefits of living in the shelter of the Most High God. We are so loved that He appointed a specific angel to watch over both body and soul all the days of our life.
Scripture indicates that there are myriads of angels, even beyond these guardians, who dwell in an unseen realm, all around us. Although it’s not likely that we would see an angel in our lifetime, there are some scriptural accounts in which a few people did see angels.
Sometimes they appeared to these biblical characters to reveal future events, as with Isaiah, Daniel and the apostle John who wrote Revelation.
Most other times they appear to people to give strength and courage during a challenging time.
Daniel’s first time seeing an angel was when he was cast into the lions’ den. Gideon was approached by an angel, girded with a sword, who came to give him courage to lead his army to victory. Mary was visited by an angel when she conceived Jesus, giving her courage by confirming that the baby in her womb is the Son of God. Joseph was visited by an angel in a dream, giving him courage to proceed with marrying Mary, when he was doubtful, frightened and confused.
Each one of these people were at a crossroads in their lives, and needed courage for what was ahead of them. Today’s verse says angels are with us in “all our ways.” Sometimes “our ways” refers to a need beyond a physical protection. God, in His infinite wisdom, might see a greater need to prepare a soul for eternity, than to protect and preserve their physical life. Courage is a core virtue that every soul needs to stay faithful to God’s will for eternal life.
There are rare instances beyond scripture, in which people have seen angels. One such instance was shared by an FBI agent, who was sent to the scene of the tragic crash of Flight 93, on 911. She was the first to arrive at the crash site in Shanksville, PA., where 44 people died, including the four Al-Qaeda terrorists who caused the crash. Agent Lillie Leonardi, arrived at the crash site, after the plane and all who were in it, were incinerated upon impact in the explosion. Here is what Lillie saw.
She arrived to see only white smoke billowing in the air, until the white misty smoke began to take shape. It moved and swirled in patterns of white light. As the mist took shape, she saw what appeared to be angels, hundreds of them, from every culture and nationality, who were dressed in ancient Centurion garb. They were 8 to 10 feet tall with one larger angel who appeared to lead the group, holding a sword.
For a brief moment, Lillie was looking at a field full of angels emerging from the realm of that smokey mist. She was stunned, but at first she told no one what she saw, for fear of being judged as crazy.
After two other FBI agents arrived at the scene, they all walked together around the site. Strangely, they found a Bible lying on the ground, which was barely singed and in good condition. Just as their attention was drawn to that Bible, a wind came blowing out of nowhere and flipped the pages open to Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd…”
Lillie’s superior officer vouched for her soundness of mind in relating what she saw that day. She was not delusional, nor was she exceptionally religious. She shared all these details later to multiple news outlets including CBS news in Pittsburgh, as well as writing a book.
There is an inside story behind flight 93, that forty heroic passengers had the courage to stop four Al-Qaeda terrorists from making that Boeing 757 fly into a nearby power plant, the White House or the Capitol building that day. Together, the passengers fought to take control away from the terrorists, and the plane crashed into an empty field near rural Shanksville, Pa., at 10:03 a.m.
We learned the details that took place before the crash, because several passengers and crew members called their loved ones, minutes before. The passengers displayed amazing courage, even while knowing their fate.
The appearance of that fully intact Bible at the crash site was a sign that there were people of faith on board that plane, and their heroic actions proved it.
Passengers Tod Beamer and Thomas Burnett Jr. seemed to be the two who led the unified fight, and might also have inspired the faith of the passengers in their last minutes of life. Angels, whether seen or not, were on that plane giving courage and inspiring faith, to every soul on board.
There were seconds, if not minutes of time for a person to surrender their soul to God, the same as the thief on the cross had done. Only eternity will tell how those forty souls found courage and grace that day.
God left that Bible to be found intact, and allowed someone to see those hundreds of angels who were present, guarding that site of courageous souls. Extreme faith, courage and bravery was shown on that plane, probably as a result of angels, who guarded their souls in all their ways.
What Lillie saw in that white smokey mist was a confirmation that something sacred happened there that day.
Lord God, bless all the souls who were on Flight 93, and thank you for sending angels to care for us in all our ways, physically and spiritually. We thank and praise you for the mysterious yet treasured gift of angels who stay with us throughout our lives, all the way to the end. Amen