Angels in a pickup truck?

by Jonathan Spurlock
(Holts Summit, MO)

There’s not much better than a great vacation day, especially when the outside temperature is hot and the car’s A/C is cold! Such was the case one recent summer day when I was visiting my home town.

I had done some sight-seeing and was ready to head back to the motel room when I wondered which direction I should go. Sure enough, the Lord spoke to me and said to head in a certain direction. Even though I had been there numerous times over the years, I complied, and headed for a certain gas station/convenience store where I had purchased gas before.

Pulling in to the pump, I was really disappointed to see the universal symbol of a yellow bag over the gas pump handle—loosely translated, that means “go somewhere else!” Sure enough, just moments later, a car moved away and it would have been easy to move forward.

One problem, though.

The car wouldn’t start.

Most of us know that sinking feeling when your car’s battery goes dead and all you hear is the rattle or clicking sound, which in this very minor key means “you’re going nowhere”.

So there I was, maybe 40 miles from the motel, and 600 miles from our current residence. Worse, it was after 5 pm and if there was a garage, I had no idea if it would be open. This was definitely tending towards panic mode on my part!

Not knowing what else to do, I went into the store and explained to the manager that my car wouldn’t start but I would try to move it out of the way as soon as I could. Inside also was a young man, whom I hadn’t seen before, who asked if I had jumper cables, to get the car started. Weakly, I replied, “No”,

He said, “Well, I’ve got a pair”, and out to my car both of us went. He did something under the hood (don’t ask me what!) and connected the jumper cables. I had my misgivings, as he and his friends were driving a good sized pickup truck (hence, the title for this new illustration). He asked me a few questions and told me there was an auto parts store a few blocks away, then said they could probably help me with a new battery—that I definitely needed one.

Enough “juice” flowed to get my car started and you can be assured, I got to that auto parts store as fast as I legally could! But before they left, I remember telling the young man and his two associates, that God has His ministers everywhere, even in that particular city.

The Bible tells us much about the ministry of our Lord for us, and how angels are here and there to minister to us. The writer of Hebrews wrote of angels, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation? (Hebrews 1:14)”

All I can tell you is this, whether they were angels or not (notice, I used a question mark for the title!), our Lord used a handful of people to help me out of a very difficult spot. I praise Him for all He’s done, and is going to do, and pray that perhaps I’ll be able to minister to someone should they be in a tough spot too.

Could there be an “angel unawares” in your home town?

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. http://www.lockman.org