Angels were instrumental in guiding Joseph to keep Jesus safe. The angels often appeared to Joseph in dreams.
Years ago my grandmother would read the "Christmas Story" from her Bible before all the grandchildren opened their gifts. I always remembered the part that the angels played in the birth of Jesus. The angel Gabriel was sent from God to Mary to deliver the message of an astonishing nature.

An angel also appeared to Zacharias to deliver the message of John the Baptist's birth.

Throughout the Old and New Testament, angels have played a pivotal part in delivering messages, protection, and even warnings. Angels are eternal beings and they are still involved in the world today. Given the state of affairs, they are probably very busy!

I have personally experienced the ministry of angels since I was a very young child. My first encounter was when I was about 7-8 years of age. I had just been tucked into bed and the lights were out when I felt someone sit on the bed next to me. I felt an incredibly warm, safe feeling associated with the pressure next to my legs. Expecting to see one of my parents, I opened my eyes and saw the outline of what I thought was a person through the soft filtered hallway light. This made such an impression that the next morning I asked my mom if she had come into my room. When she said that she hadn't, I asked my dad and he said that he had gone to bed himself and did not come into my room.

I pondered these things, probably like Mary pondered the appearance of Gabriel. Who was this? What did it mean? The only thing I could conclude was that this experience was a wonderful thing and I felt such peace and safety that it must have been an angel from God.

Divine Protection
Many years later, I traveled to Colorado to minister in a church with a friend. Before the service we stayed with a church member who lived about fifteen miles out of town on a rural road. One night, we decided to drive into town to visit some of the other church members. Just before we left, I had an urge to pray; so I walked outside into the field and began to pray in the Spirit. I didn’t know what I was praying about, but it seemed to be very urgent.

As we were driving into town, we topped a hill in the dark countryside near a feedlot for cattle. At 55 or 60 miles per hour, our car plowed into a herd of steers that were standing in the road. Before the driver could even hit the brakes, we had collided with these large animals. The sensation I had was not like anything I had ever experienced. Although all three of us were in the front seat, with no seat belts buckled, we slid forward in what seemed to be slow motion only about 2 inches.

Our heads did not hit the windshield. We didn’t hit the dashboard. It felt like pillows were all around us, just like we were cushioned! Thank God for angelic protection! (This happened before seat belt laws. I always use a seat belt now.)

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day.
(Ps. 91:5)

By this time in my life, I had learned the 91st Psalm. For days, weeks, and even years when I got up in the morning, I would quote this Psalm, declaring out loud:

I dwell in the secret place of the Most High God. I abide under the shadow of the Almighty whose power no foe can withstand. No weapon formed against me will prosper. A thousand may fall at my side and ten thousand at my right hand, but it
will not come near me!

After we exited the car, which was a total loss, we saw that the hood was bent all the way up to the windshield, the lights were inoperative and we were stuck in the dark in a dangerous situation. In order to prevent someone else from colliding with the car and the steers, I went up the hill to try to alert oncoming traffic and my friends walked downhill. Soon I saw headlights about 1000 feet down the hill where my friends were warning a stopped car. Suddenly I heard the sound of a tractor-trailer rig coming from the other side of the hill. It looked like a disaster was about to happen and I began to pray for help.

At about this moment, I turned to look for my friends who were still in the same place, and I saw the outline of the wrecked car in the headlights from down the road. Someone was bending over the front of the wrecked car, working on it, when the taillights lit up and the interior light of the car came on. Now the wrecked car was visible, and the truck topped the hill, hit the brakes and veered off the side of the road missing the wreck.

A few minutes later I asked my friends who fixed the car lights. They gave me a blank look and said, “We thought you did. We were still talking to the driver down the road.” I have no doubt that I saw an angel standing over that car, preventing another accident!

Messengers

…the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
(Matt. 2:13)

Angels were instrumental in guiding Joseph to keep Jesus safe. The angels often appeared to Joseph in dreams. There have been several times that an angel has appeared to me in a dream or even while I was awake to give me messages. They are “messengers” from God.

The dreams that I have where a “messenger” appears to me stand out to me in a way that other dreams don’t. The “messenger” can take many forms, just as when an angel appears as a human either male or female. They usually impart information, explanation, or warning about something. They can bring good news and a sense of expectation of a turnaround in your life. The angels that have appeared in my dreams always gave me a sensation that they wise and possessed much knowledge. I never saw one with wings and in my dreams, they don’t wear a halo, but there is something about them that tells me they are spiritual beings sent from God.

Help is available to us in multiple ways if we are open and receptive enough to pay attention to angels sent to us “unaware”. We are the ones unaware, not the angels. Open yourself to the possibility that angelic intervention may be the way that God works on your behalf as you speak and declare what He has said about your protection and deliverance!