Guardian Angels

Last night as a sermon illustration on his message, “A Saving Saviour”, our pastor recalled an incident that happened to him in his childhood. He and his two brothers were forbidden to go to a recently dug pond near their home in rural Oklahoma. Nevertheless, after a big rain which filled the pond to overflowing and in their parents’ absence, the boys, all non-swimmers, ventured to the pond. The youngest jumped in, flailed around and was about to drown. After a terrified argument about who would rescue him, one boy became the hero and saved his brother’s life.

Though it was a serious situation, our pastor’s animated story-telling style infused the long-ago scenario with drama and humor, keeping the congregation on the edge of their seats or gasping with laughter. “That was quite a story,” I remarked after the service to the lady sitting next to me.”

“You know,” the 83-year-old said, “something like that happened to me when I was young!” She went on to tell how she had gotten into a pond with several cousins. Although she couldn’t swim, she rode and hung on to a log as it bobbed around in the water. Suddenly the log sank, taking the little girl down with it. “I was drowning!” she exclaimed, the memory obviously as fresh in her mind as when it happened more than 70 years before. “And the strangest thing happened!”, she said in amazement. “My life passed before my eyes!”

“Really?” I replied. I had heard of this phenomenon before, and I was fascinated. I asked her what it was like, and she said scenes of her childhood flashed in rapid succession through her consciousness! Thankfully, a cousin who could swim pulled her out in the nick of time.

I’d had a close call myself as a child. Raised with a houseful of boys, I had trailed off after them to the creek one day and found myself sitting on a log holding on to my eight-year-old brother and floating through flood-swollen waters. I remember falling from my slippery perch and seeing the yellow water swirling before my eyes. Then suddenly I was being yanked to safety by my long blonde hair my brother had grabbed! Maybe the buoyancy of the water helped, but somehow he managed to get me back on the log. Angels watching over me! My short life did not flash before my eyes, so I guess he caught me before I had reached that point.

Some say this condition is caused by lack of oxygen to the brain, but who really knows? It is amazing to think that our histories are stored like this, with events we might not even remember surfacing in an instant. Romans 14:10-12 tells us that we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God and that each one of us shall give an account of himself to God. I’m sure God will have a way of replaying our lives for us to see. How thankful we will be if our sins have been blotted out and we have trusted in our “Saving Saviour”.