Are Angels Real and Can You See Them?

I believe there are angels all around us and I do believe we can see them, but I don’t believe they appear to us as creatures with glowing wings and halos. They may very well look like that in their celestial state (who really knows?) but I believe they appear to us in the form of ordinary people and sometimes even animals.

“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” (Hebrews 13: 2)

This verse from the Bible claims that any stranger we happen to meet could very well be an angel so we should we should be careful how we act around them. This pretty much convinces me they do not appear in a celestial form, but more likely as someone we probably wouldn’t even notice on the street. I’m positive I have had several encounters in my lifetime and believe we probably all have and might not know it.

My first encounter was when I was about 11 years old and I had just started going to a new school. The buses were on strike so we had to walk the 2 miles to get there. I was a very timid child and the thought of having to walk by myself to a strange place was a little frightening, but the way was straight, with no turns, so I felt I would be fine.

I made it to school with no problem and when it was time to walk home I was feeling very brave and confident. What I hadn’t realized during my walk to the school was, the road forked right at the intersection where I had crossed. I hadn’t noticed it then, because the road was still straight going up to the school, but now on my way back, there it was looming ahead of me.

I immediately panicked. I wasn’t sure which way to go because both roads were practically side by side. I hesitantly started to walk down the one I thought looked the most familiar. It wasn’t long before I realized this road had all kind of bends and curves I didn’t remember being there on the way to school. I came to a bridge I knew I hadn’t passed in the morning and when I turned around in a panic to go back, I was faced with yet another fork in the road!

I literally began to shake because, not only was I helplessly lost, but I had been given strict orders to come straight home from school and I knew if I was late I would be in big trouble. I began to cry because I had no idea which way to go. Then I remembered a Sunday school lesson I had learned about having faith. If you pray, believing with all your heart that God will hear and answer, He will give you your desire.

With the pure, unwavering faith of a child, I closed my eyes and prayed and asked God to please send someone to show me the way home. I believed with all my heart, He would. I had no doubts, whatsoever, that when I opened my eyes someone would be standing there.

I opened my eyes and there stood a little brown dog looking up at me. He started walking away and without hesitation I followed him. I had no doubts whatsoever that God had sent him. I wasn’t in the least surprised when we came to the same intersection where I had first gotten lost. The little dog looked up at me again and then turned and scampered back the way we came. I remember getting goose bumps because I knew in my heart I had just been with an angel.

My second encounter was about 6 years later. My younger brother and I had always been close and he had run away from home. He had been gone about a week and we couldn’t find him anywhere. Back in those days they didn’t have Amber Alerts and the local police weren’t much help in finding runaways. I was worried sick over him and hadn’t slept that whole week. I was exhausted and had an ache in my heart that just wouldn’t go away. I had been praying earnestly for God to protect him and somehow let me know he was alright.

I was on my way to work and had come to the trolley station where I took the trolley every day. There was always a wait of about 15 minutes so I sat down on the bench as I always did. There were people sitting next to me on the bench and people walking around. The station was always busy in the morning with people going to work. I sat there and silently continued my prayers.

I was interrupted by someone tapping me on the shoulder. I looked up to see a very old, kindly looking gentleman looking down at me. He had the kindest eyes. No one else seemed to even notice him standing there, because no one turned their heads as he spoke, and it was almost as if everything around me suddenly stood still.

All he said to me was, “Things are going to be alright,” and then he turned and walked away towards the road. I sat there stunned for a few seconds, and then I jumped up to run after him to ask him how he knew, or why he said that, but he was gone. I looked up and down the long road. There was nowhere he could have ducked into or went, except for either up the road or down the road. He was a very old man so he couldn’t have gotten very far in those few seconds, but he was gone! I got goose bumps again, just like I had years earlier. I got on the trolley and, during the ride to work, I once again knew I had encountered an angel. I also knew, without a doubt, I would see my brother that day.

I worked for the telephone company and I had only been at my station about an hour when my supervisor plugged in behind me and told me I had a visitor down in the lobby. It’s so strange when something like this happens, because it’s as if you know exactly what’s happening, but logic is telling you it’s impossible. Regardless of that, here it was. I knew I was headed down to the lobby to see my brother.

When I got down to the lobby, there he was, dirty and disheveled, and looking so scared and lonely. He wanted to go home but he was afraid of getting punished for running away. I promised to go with him and stand by him, and gave him some money to get something to eat and told him to wait for me to get done work and then we went home together.

I have had other experiences where I was sure I had been visited by angels, but none of them stand out as much as these two experiences. I have to admit there may have been a little room for doubt in some of my experiences, but not these two. I am absolutely sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that a little dog and a very old, kindly gentleman were not of this world.