Going out on a sales call up North, close to Erie, PA, I followed my usual route along a winding two-lane road that weaved in and out of small towns and wooded areas. I appreciated the lack of other vehicles on the road. It was peaceful, an opportunity for me to spend time in prayer, and meditating on a scripture passage I selected for the day.
Twenty minutes into my drive, I noticed someone walking on the berm on the passenger side of my car. The sun was just coming up, so I didn’t get a good look at the person as I drove by.
A short distance down the road, I stopped the car. I looked in the rearview mirror but couldn’t see if the person was still walking. Time to think what to do.
“Should I continue on or turn around and go back?”
A Strange Feeling Came Over Me
A strange feeling came over me as I turned my head around to get a better look. As I turned my head back, I looked at my hands clenched around the steering wheel. My grip softened, as did my resolve to continue on.
“I should go back and see if I can help.”
I was not in the habit of picking up hitchhikers or strangers, but something, or someone, was telling me I needed to go back.
The road was deserted. Not to worry. I backed up the car. Almost immediately, the person came back into view. I put my four-ways on and pulled alongside the person, a woman.
She wasn’t just a woman. She was a soaking wet woman. Her clothes were wet. Her hair was wet. She was wet. And she was in her bare feet.
Before letting down the window, I quickly glanced to see if there were any houses in the area. Nothing, just woods.
I let down the window and asked her if I could help her.
“Miss, are you okay? Do you need and help?" She looked in my car and said something unexpected after seeing my Bible opened on the passenger seat.
“That’s your Bible?” she asked.
“Yes, it −−”.
“That’s good,” nodding her head and offering a gentle smile.
Given the way she looked, all wet, barefoot, and on a deserted road with no houses in sight, I asked her again if she needed help.
“No, thank you,” she said, walking away.
I shrugged my shoulders and drove away.
That Strange Feeling Returned
Only a short stone’s throw down the road, that strange feeling returned. This time there seemed to be an urgency for me to go back.
I backed up the car. I kept backing it up, looking for her.
“Where did she go?”
I got out of the car. I looked around. Hands on my hips.
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing!”
No cars. No houses. No barefooted wet woman with wet clothes. Not a thing in sight.
My first reaction. “I tried.”
Second reaction. “Did I imagine this?”
Final reaction: “I just encountered a soaking wet angel.”
Angels pick the strangest disguises, don't they?
“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2)
Have you encountered angels in disguise?
Try this:
Free your mind and soul to explore the possibility that you encountered angels in your life.
Without passing judgement on what you recall, write down the details of the encounters. Consider the thoughts and emotions that emerged then and now about the encounter.
Going forward, set some time aside each day to look back on your day. Open your mind and soul to the possibility that you encountered an angel that day. Again, jot down the details without judgement.
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