My Bible Blog

Strangers Can Be Angels Too:

Who has impacted you the most in your life? Why do they come to mind? Is it because of the love they have shown you? Or the lessons they have taught you?

For the most part, when we are asked about the people who have had the most influence on us, we think of those who we know well. It makes sense that those who are around you most often would have the most significant impact on your life. Teachers, parents, grandparents, uncles, siblings, stepparents, friends, coworkers, counselors, and roommates all come to mind. But what about other people that you know less well?

People that you may have met only once and neglect to know their name. Most of us interact with strangers- those we are meeting for the first or second time- quite often. After all, there are almost 8 billion people in the world so there are billions of "strangers" out there. Truthfully, many of those people will remain insignificant to us, and our interactions with them will quickly be forgotten. Unless you are my mother who can (seriously) remember every person that she ever met, you are not likely to remember the cashier who checked out your groceries in 2019 or the janitor of your elementary school. 

However, as far as I could see, there is one exception to this- if the stranger made themself stand out. In this world, strangers often stand out for bad reasons. For example, "I remember that one doctor who called me an obsessive helicopter parent," or "there was this guy at the grocery store last week who hit my car pulling into the space!"

Undeniably, it is hardwired into humans, an instinct if you will, to remember the bad, the embarrassing, the painful, and the ugly. After all, who would learn not to touch a hot stove if they were never burned? Or how would someone learn to think before they speak without that one time, they lost a good friend by speaking ruthlessly?

But now I have a challenge for you. Think about a good stranger, someone who made you feel loved or seen or happy. I am lucky enough to have had quite a few of these interactions in my life. 

There was my grandmother's neighbor, who, without hesitation, came inside of her house and carried her frail body to bed after she had fallen, unable get up. There was a doctor who stayed after hours to provide a life-saving operation on my friend's baby, and a nurse who called my father in the middle of the night to ensure that he had gotten home from the hospital safely. There was a witness who pulled over after I had been in a car accident to ensure that I was uninjured. When I began my first job at 14, there was a man who saw me shakily trying to count money through the drive-through window and asked my name. Apprehensively, I responded, and he told me that I was doing an excellent job and gave me my first tip, on a two-dollar ice cream cone. There was the teacher who allowed me to stay after school and help her second grade students get ready for the day after she realized that I was experiencing extreme anxiety each school day. And I could go on. 

I am so grateful to all of these people for the way they stepped up to show me that I matter, even though I had never met them before. Some treated my loved ones with such tender care that the very thought of them brought tears to my eyes. Why do I feel the need to mention them?

Well, for one, most of them I never had a chance to thank. The thing about strangers like these is that they are not looking for a thank you or for recognition but simply to give kindness. Jesus did this all of the time, and He never asked for a thing in return for His services. That does not make them any less deserving of recognition, though. 

Thus, should by any chance these individuals be reading, I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart. In my life, there have been so many times that I have seen someone struggling and have turned my head for fear of my motives being mistaken or of doing the wrong thing. I regret that deeply, and I am sorry for those that I neglected to help in their time of need. But these courageous people refused to give into this fear, and for that, I remember them years later. 

Another reason I feel the need to mention them is to show that there are good people in this world and to encourage myself and my readers to be a stranger's angel. An angel is defined by Oxford Languages as, "a spiritual being believed to act as an attendant, agent, or messenger of God." 

Though humans, unlike the angels in the Bible, such as Gabriel, may not be perfect or fly with beautiful white wings, I believe firmly that people are meant to be messengers of God.

Thus, in my flawed human opinion, strangers can be angels, and God calls us all to be angels. You never know what a person is suffering from and if you have been sent to be their angel. Do not be like me, afraid to act- be like the angels I listed above, courageous and confident in the name of the Lord. 

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 "All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is a part of it." ~ 1 Corinthians 12:27, NLT

"Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality." ~ Romans 12:9-13, ESV

In the U.S., today is Veteran's Day, a day to commemorate all those who have served in the armed forces. So, today, I give a big thank you to any veteran's reading. I do not care what country or idea you fought for - I thank you for your service and dedication to your country and to all of the strangers within it.