After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: ‘Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said, “Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.” So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.’

ACTS 26:19–23

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Paul had Rome in his sights to share the gospel (Acts 23:11) – that’s why, as he was questioned by the Romans, he appealed to Caesar. And so, after being questioned by King Agrippa, he gets on a ship to Rome. But they hit a violent storm, during which the angel appears to Paul.

This divine encounter reminds me of a story shared by Open Doors. When Sara from the Middle East became a Christian, her father put her under house arrest, before arranging for her to marry a Muslim relative. Where Sara lives, women are often deemed inferior to men, and so there was a real risk that this demeaning treatment might go unseen – but not to God.

‘Someone came like a light, held my hand and dragged me out of the locked room,’ says Sara, recalling the day she was to be forcibly married. ‘He put me in a car. That morning, I woke up in a hotel room in a city in north Iraq, hours away from where I lived.’ She later learned that security cameras at her home had stopped at exactly the time she was rescued. Today, she is being supported by partners of Open Doors. Was it an angel?

Hebrews 1:14 says, ‘Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?’ It’s written like it’s not even a question – of course angels minister to us! But we can overlook this, mistaking invisibility for inaction. Whilst Paul and Sara’s dramatic stories feel unusual and perhaps far removed from our own relatively smaller trials, I wonder if they also serve a wider purpose: God wanting their stories to prompt faith in our everyday places for the care he surrounds us all with, which is often unseen.

How might danger have eluded us on our way to the office because of the hidden intervention of an angel at God’s bidding? How has the presence of an angel given us courage as we’ve navigated a complex work situation that impacts on colleagues, not unlike Paul on the boat?

‘Even though my situation seemed helpless and impossible, I still had hope and faith in Christ,’ says Sara. As we face situations that may feel overwhelming, let’s allow Sara and Paul’s confidence – and the wonderful ways God rescued them – to inspire faith in God’s care for us. And don’t be surprised if it involves angel!

Tim Bechervaise
Tim Bechervaise is a copywriter for Open Doors UK & Ireland, and a freelance writer.

As you begin each day this week, ask the Holy Spirit to make you more sensitive to the whispers of his presence – including the presence of angels in your life and those of others.