At our church, there was always an open mike at our Thanksgiving services. One year, my friend Ed Hale shared an amazing story. Ed was a policeman then and told us that a highway patrolman had quite an unusual experience.
Ed’s friend was on duty one night and gave a ticket to a speeding driver. When he went to the car, he sensed something evil. He told Ed that as he walked towards the car, the hairs on back of his neck stood up.
The next morning, this highway patrolman got a phone call from the head office inquiring about driver he had given a ticket to. Turns out, that driver shot a policeman later that night. When the police caught him, he told them he wanted to shoot a policeman that night.
They saw the traffic ticket from the first policeman on his car seat. and when asked why he didn’t shoot the first one, he replied that there were too many in the car. He said the car was filled with policemen.
Ed’s friend was asked how many were in his car. He replied that there was no one with him. He was driving ALONE. His wife, also a Christian, always prayed for his safety. Were they angels or did God just change the driver’s vision to look like there were others in the car? I don’t know. But I do know that God does answer prayers and that nothing can touch us without going through His permission first.
Hi Jean…
Yes I remember telling the story. Wow, that was, like, 15 years ago! A couple of observations:
1. I was telling the story third hand (I heard it from a fridnd, who…heard from a fridnd who….) I heard it at a Police Couples conference at Hume Lake from a woman who told the story 2nd hand at the conference. I cannot verify that the story is true…I don’t know the woman who told it to us, and in passing it on to you, I hope I have not participated in the propogation of another urban legend…
2. The way I remember it, the officer’s testimony included that it was his Wife who was the one who had a “feeling” that her husband was in need of prayer that night and that she had gotten out of bed to pray for him. He remembered his wife telling him the next day that she had been praying for him. He asked here when she was praying for him and she had remembered the time and told him. He then realized that she had been praying for him right during the time of his traffic stop. The result of this incident was that this officer, who was largely agnostic and critical of his wife’s Christian sentimentality and faith, became a strong believer as the result of hearing that his wife’s prayers had saved his life.
I believe it was a California Highway Patrol officer and several of the CHP guys at the conference indicated that it was a well known story among the CHP Christians.
3. There is a version of this story circulating where the protected person is a woman who walked alone through an alley just 20 minutes before another woman did – who was subsequently raped. The rapist was later asked why he didn’t attack the first woman and he said that she was accompanied by two tall men… the implication being that the first woman’s prayers for protection were answered with two guardian angels. I found it on snopes:
http://www.snopes.com/glurge/rapestop.asp
4. I called my buddy at CHP and he confirmed that he had heard the story, but did not have the specifics.
This is a wonderful story. Yes, nothing happens without God’s permission. He’s our awesome Heavenly Father.
God bless you, Jean, with a blessed Thanksgiving!
Praise the LORD!!! it must be GOD!!! protection for thoungh who believed ONLY HIS BELOVED SON, LORD JESUS!!!!!Amen!!! Shalom!
Thanks for all your comments! Ed, I also remember hearing from one of our missionaries in Russia. They were being threatened, and a big dog appeared out of nowhere and slept on their steps every night for weeks. No one bothered them.
As for angels protecting people. There are many stories of that happening that have come out of the mission fields. I don’t doubt that they are true.
Blessings in HIM,
Jean
Because the first police man was not shot, someone else died that night. Dont forget that! Why didnt God help him too?
Roman, that’s a very good and legitimate question. It’s answered in the Bible. God’s ways are different than ours. We only see the temporal, and He sees the eternal. To us, death is the end, but not to God. I remember reading in the Old Testament about an ungodly King who had a child. It says that God saw something good in him and allowed him to die. All of Israel mourned for the boy. God decided to spare him of the grief that was in this world.
In our eyes it was horrible that a child would die, but in God’s it was loving. This life is only temporal for all of us. One day, there will be no more death. There is another life, where our hearts will finally be in a perfect place.