A Shield From Danger
Rodney, stop the car!”
As we drove down the road, my attention focused on the ramp leading to a busy interstate highway. A car was pulled off to the right side of the incline. The headlights of the zooming cars illumined a woman with dark hair in a black dress. I caught a glimpse of her confused face as she paced beside her car.
“That lady needs help, honey. We have to stop!”
My husband pulled over to the side of the road. But we were too far away to back up. Cars whipped past us.
I craned my neck for a better look. The lady continued to walk back and forth beside her car. It was a busy Friday night and many cars whizzed past her.
“Why in the world doesn’t she get back in her car before she gets hit? We have to get to her quickly. She’s in danger.”
My husband studied the heavy traffic.
“Why aren’t we backing up, Daddy?” our five-year-old demanded from the backseat.
“I can’t back up. Why is it so important that we be the ones to help, anyway? Plenty of other people are out tonight. Surely someone else will stop.”
“I don’t know why. But we are the ones who are supposed to help,” I insisted.
I started to pray out loud, “Dear Lord, please protect her. Get her in that car. Keep her safe till we can get back to her. Hide her from the view of the passing cars—people who might hurt her or take advantage of her—until we can get back there, and please slow down the traffic.”
I glanced again over my shoulder. A man the size of a linebacker walked behind her. In the gleam of headlights, I saw that he had on a black shirt and light-colored slacks. His steps matched hers as he escorted her into her car.
Seeing a break in the traffic, my husband said, “I’ll have to find a place to turn around.”
As he drove off our son implored, “Aren’t we going to help her?”
“Son, we’ll go back. Give me time.”
“Daddy, will we be there before anyone else?”
“I’m doing my best.”
In order to distract my son, I said, “Michael, why don’t you pray with me? ‘Dear Lord, please help us make it back before anyone else stops. Clear out this traffic so we can help her safely. Keep her in her car. Make her stay put!’”
After several minutes, we arrived at the on-ramp again.
My husband pulled our car in behind hers and got out. He walked to her window. “What’s wrong, ma’am?”
“My tire is flat. I think there’s something wrong with the rim too.” She got out of the car and led him around to the passenger side. “See?” she said as she pointed at the back tire.
“Wow! Look at that tire rim. It’s completely buckled. You must have smashed into the concrete edge of the ramp.”
“Yes, I suppose I did.”
“Do you have a spare tire?”
“Yes, I think so. Let me get my key for the trunk.”
She handed my husband her key ring with the trunk key jutting out. He opened the trunk and took out the spare and the jack.
“My, she certainly is trusting. I don’t think I would hand my keys over to a stranger,” I said.
“Mommy, where is the big man?”
“I was wondering that myself. So you saw him too?”
“Yeah. He was really big!”
“Hmmm. Stay in the car, Michael. I’m going to talk to the lady.”
“That tire rim looks pretty bad,” I said to her.
“Yes,” she said with a nervous laugh. “I prayed, ‘God, you’ve got to send someone else to change this tire. It’s beyond me. I need your help. Please send a Christian family to help me and keep me safe until they get here.’”
“So that’s why we felt like we had to come back here. The pressure to help you was so intense even though you had that large man protecting you. Who was he, anyway? Where is he?”
She whirled to face me. “What man?”
“The large man with khaki slacks and a black shirt. He had a crew cut. He helped you get into your car. In fact, it seemed to me that he purposely blocked you from the view of passing cars.”
My son called through the open window, “I saw him too.”
“No one was here but me,” she stammered, eyes wide. “God must have sent an angel to protect me. I asked Him to keep me safe.” She broke into a smile. “God, you are so awesome!” She stretched her arms toward the sky.
My husband finished putting on the spare and pulled the jack out from under the car.
“Thank you so much, sir. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t stopped.”
We returned to our car and watched as she drove off.
Back on the road again, my husband said, “So you think maybe you saw an angel tonight?”
“Maybe. I can’t think of another explanation. Michael and I both saw him, but no one was there except her when we arrived at her car. And she didn’t even see him. It really did seem like he shielded her, the way he blocked her from the view of the other cars. Even his clothing seemed designed to protect her.”
“His clothing? What do you mean?”
“Well, I know it’s strange, but it was as if God wanted His angel to blend with what the woman was wearing, a black shirt and khaki slacks. She was wearing a black dress and her white legs really stood out. His black shirt matched her dress, and his khaki slacks hid her legs. It was almost like he made her invisible.”
“Huh. Amazing to think about. So, why do you think God wanted us to help her? He could have just had the angel fix the flat.”
“Maybe because He wanted us to be the answer to her prayer. She said she asked God to send her a Christian family.”
“Really?”
“What I find interesting is that you never saw the man.”
“Well if I had, I wouldn’t have stopped.”
“That’s true. Maybe that’s why you didn’t see him, because God didn’t let you. Strange, Michael and I both saw him, but we still thought we had to get back to her. I never once thought, ‘Oh, good, there’s a man there. He’ll help her. We don’t have to.’ I was convinced that we had to be the ones.”
I turned and looked at my son.
“Well, Michael, I think we got to be part of a miracle tonight. We saw God answer our prayers to protect that lady, and we were an answer to her prayer too.”
He sat back in his seat and grinned.