“I don’t know how I made it home today!” I have said these words numerous times in my 23 years of shift work as a chemist. My flip flop schedule had caused me countless sleepless nights and days. Going to work with only 3 hours of sleep had become the norm for me. There were many times when sleep didn’t come, and I had to drag myself to work all the same. As expected, sometimes I had dozed off for a second or two during my 45-minute drive to work or to home.
Furthermore, driving on a straight highway didn’t help the situation. The minute I was on the interstate, my eyes would slowly close and my head starts bobbing. Often, I had the radio blaring loud, or the air conditioner turned full blast hoping the loud sound and cold air would keep me awake. But most often, neither helped. I knew driving to work with not enough sleep was risky and unsafe, but I didn’t have a choice. I still had to go to work. A few times, my husband took me to work, or I took a cab. Therefore, I had placed my driving in God’s care. And He has kept me safe.
Coming home from work one foggy morning, I must have dozed off and missed the ramp to the interstate. Seconds later I woke up. I was driving on an unfamiliar two-lane road, with on-coming cars before me! I started to panic! I gradually regained calmness. I could have ended in a ditch, or killed. I knew my angel woke me up. Thank God, for today I am finally retired and no longer drive to work.
Sometimes we do careless things that are dangerous without thinking about the consequences. But I believe when we ask God for protection, He sends our angels to keep us safe. Or, how do we manage to wake up during dire situations?
One night during my high school days, there was a black out. And since I had to study, I took a small gas lamp to the upstairs bedroom. It wasn’t bedtime yet, so everyone was still downstairs. I didn’t know what happened minutes later, but when my eyes opened, I saw myself lying on the floor and in front of me were flames! The gas lamp had turned over and my books were on fire! I screamed for help! Everyone came and put out the fire. I knew my angel woke me up before things got out of hand.
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Many years ago, I received an email from Pastor Alan Castor in the Philippines. My husband and I had placed 3 young children (Jamar, Marilyn and Jocelyn) in the care of Pastor Alan and his wife. His e-mail’s subject read: Fire almost consumed us!
Right away my heart started pounding and my mind raced. Did the Batiano Church (that my family built) catch on fire? Or did the parsonage catch on fire?
Here’s Pastor Alan’s e-mail:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Around 9:00 p.m. on Monday night there was a blackout, and as I had always done in the past, I lit a candle and put it on our kitchen table. Then we all went to sleep. Normally, the power is back on after 30 minutes, and not any longer. As I drifted to sleep I noticed the fluorescent light in our living room came on. Usually, once the electricity comes back on, I would wake up to blow the candle. But this time, I had gone into deep sleep and didn’t awaken. Four hours later, my wife’s loud screams awakened me! The plastic table was in flames! Half asleep and totally horrified, I couldn’t speak. All I could do was groan. The burning table had filled the whole house with smoke and seconds later, the 10 ft. flames had started to lick our roof. My three children were in bed and the three other children were asleep in another part of the parsonage. I picked up my one-year-old and shook the other two and took them outside the house. By this time, Jamar, Marilyn and Jocelyn had awakened and stood frozen watching the fire. But my brave wife took a bucket of water and asked the children to help. Fifteen minutes later, the fire was out. You should have seen the children’s horrified faces—-and mine. We right away cleaned up all the debris. The plastic table and 5 plastic chairs and the 24 tiles of vinyl are gone, but thank God, we are all alive.
After everything was cleaned up, we all knelt down and thanked the Lord for taking care of us. My wife said, “I know my angel woke me up!” Surely, God has again manifested His power and His love for us. God is so good and kind, for in danger, He always takes control.
“He shall cover you with His feathers and under His wings you will find refuge….” Psalms 91:4
”The angel of the LORD encamps round about them who fear him, and He delivers them.” Psalms 34:7
May God bless us all,
Alan