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By R.A. Mathews

At 7:24 a.m. last Sunday, my BBF, Best Beloved Friend, who lives far from me in a mountainous region of the United States, texted pictures of her snow-covered vehicle with the message: “Here we go again.”

She has sent a number of snowy pictures this year — they’ve had a bad winter.

At 9:05 a.m., she sent pictures of everyone in her grandparents’ Lincoln Navigator: her 81-year-old grandfather, 76-year-old grandmother, mother, aunt and uncle. The message read: “Final pictures of us since we will most likely die driving to church.”

She’s very funny, and we usually send pictures back and forth as we text. This was nothing out of the ordinary.

At 11 a.m., as I was worshipping the Lord, I parted my Bible, searching for a topic for this newspaper column. It opened to one of the most powerful angel stories in scripture.

At 11:13 a.m., she sent pictures of their bad icy roads.

At 11:21 a.m., she wrote, “Stuck in a ditch with my family. Please pray. Oh, my goodness, I’m crying. I’m so scared.”

At 11:24 a.m., “If I die, I just want you to know I’ve had the pleasure of you being my best friend. OK, I’m really serious.”

I thought this was so sweet and also funny.

At 11:36 a.m., she said roadside service wouldn’t be there for three hours. I told her to get an Uber. She said she wouldn’t leave her family, and I responded, “Take them with you.” Her answer: “They can’t get out… ”

That’s when I realized this wasn’t a simple roadside incident and immediately reassured her: “You all have a guardian angel! Pray for your guardian angel to speak to someone who can help you!”

I prayed to God, sought my angel’s help, and then contacted the fire department. I told her to dial 9-1-1, but her aunt discouraged her.

I later learned they were on an icy single-lane road with a steep mountain on one side and a drop-off to death on the other, thanks to no guardrail. Fortunately, they had slid toward the mountain with the Navigator now nearly on its side up against a huge boulder. She was grateful it hadn’t crashed the passenger-side windows, throwing glass everywhere.

As soon as the wreck happened, her grandfather called their pastor and left a message.

At 12:02 p.m., the sheriff arrived and roadside assistance soon followed. The Navigator had to be lifted, what they call a “recovery.” It couldn’t be towed — that’s how badly the vehicle was situated.

Minutes later, I told her, “Thank goodness! All the angels got together!”

I believe that’s what happened and confirmed the timing with her. It was sometime near 11:44 a.m. when their pastor discovered the message, called the sheriff, and secured assistance. In other words, he moved into action after we began praying to God and for everyone’s guardian angels to put their heads together.

I am not Roman Catholic, but I learned details about guardian angels from Pope John Paul II. And remember, just before I saw her text messages, God had led me to read one of the most powerful angel scenes in Scripture. It’s about Assyrian King Sennacherib.

The Britannica says Assyria had “united most of the Middle East from Egypt to the Persian Gulf,” which means the brutal nation had conquered everything in the region. A formidable foe, the Assyrians were greatly feared. The Britannica cites a “series of strong Assyrian kings” including Sennacherib.

Archaeology found that Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem when Hezekiah was king but could not take the city. That’s big!

Historians suggest a plague struck the enemy army, but the prophet Isaiah wrote the exact reason in the 8th century B.C., long before any archaeological find!

Isaiah told Hezekiah, “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here… I will defend this city and save it… ’

“That night the angel of the Lord…. put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib . . . broke camp and withdrew… One day, while he was worshiping… his god, his sons…. killed him with the sword… ” (2 Kings 18:32-37).

Pope John Paul II said, “The modern mentality does not see the importance of angels,” but Scripture has one angel story after another. I am releasing “Reaching to God – The Angels Edition” later this year.

Ask for your angel’s intervention as we did last Sunday. Once you begin, you’ll never forget that your guardian angel has nothing better to do than help you.

Contact the Rev. Mathews at RAMathews.com. Copyright © 2025 R.A. Mathews. All rights reserved.