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The last thing I expected to hear so early this morning was that two friends had been in a car wreck.

The call came from their former pastor’s wife to pray for them. At the time of the call, one was on her way to the hospital in an ambulance, and the other was still in the vehicle waiting to be extracted.

When I saw photos later in the day, my first thought was, “Surely angels were watching over them.”

I’ve often heard people make comments that imply each of us who put our trust in God (and perhaps even those who don’t) have a guardian angel assigned to us for life. There is only one Biblical record to support this idea of an angel being assigned to individuals.

Jesus made mention of them in an account recorded by the disciple Matthew about an incident involving children. “See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.”

Many people have had an accident, a brush with death, or a split-second avoidance of tragedy in life. I wonder how many of them credit their safety or their survival to the presence of a guardian angel that intervened in their behalf.

According to several sources, there are almost 300 mentions of angels in the Bible. Those who have given this topic little consideration may have an image of angels flying about heaven on feathery wings or singing Christmas carols around the manger scene in a Christmas play. Angels places in the scheme of things is much greater than either of these lovely images.

One important occasion where angels show up is when an important announcement is to be made. They were there to announce the birth of Jesus and John the Baptist. They also issue warnings, as when the angel appeared to Joseph and told him to take Mary and Baby Jesus and go into Egypt away from the slaughter of the innocents by Herod.

They come to minister to people in the form of encouragement or meeting spiritual and emotional needs as they did when they showed up several times in Jesus’s life. The Bible refers to angels as “ministering spirits” whose main objective is to be an emissary between God’s will in heaven and that plan coming to pass on earth in individual lives.

Angels are everywhere the intermediaries between God and man. They are commissioned by God to carry out His will in the earth or sent to assist men who are appointed to carry out the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

According to accounts from ancient times to modern, angels show show up to bring good news, warnings, encouragement, or instructions. It is interesting to note that not only the Christian faith but many other religions hold fast to the belief in angels, and guardian angels in particular.

Sometimes angels did miraculous things like opening the doors to the prison where Peter was being held prisoner. There is at least one reference in the story of Lazarus and the rich man of angels going with a person as they pass from life to death into eternal life. The stories in the Bible about what angels do is very diverse.

Artistic portrayals of angels almost always include wings. Modern eyewitness accounts note that angels can move freely, not restricted by gravity or substance, but usually do not have wings.

Belief in guardian angels is present throughout Biblical stories and other cultures for thousands of years. After seeing photos of my friends’ demolished vehicle, I certainly believe an angel was watching over them.

Judith Victoria Hensley is a retired teacher, writer, photographer and columnist for over 25 years for Harlan Enterprise.