Angels in the Grand Canyon
“You’re going to Arizona,” she said to me. “I see you at the Grand Canyon. You are at the Grand Canyon and two angels take you down into the canyon and reveal more of God’s love to you.”
Three weeks ago, I heard a missionary from Greece speak at a friend’s house. After her talk, a group of women prayed for each person there. When the group began praying for me, a woman saw an image of me at the Grand Canyon.
Now, what you may not know about me is that I’ve been begging people to go to the Grand Canyon with me for over a year. It never worked out with schedules and timing, but tucked in my heart has always been this desire to see this natural wonder. When this woman said, “I see you at the Grand Canyon,” my heart leapt.
I didn’t know if their prayer for me was literal or symbolic, but that night before bed, I prayed, “God, can I go? Can I go to the Grand Canyon?”
In the morning, I had peace in my heart, so I booked a flight, hostel and car and found myself in Arizona two weekends ago. On Saturday, I woke up early to hike a few miles. When I hiked to the first look-out point (affectionately named “Ooh-aah Point”), I met two guys from Los Angeles who were also hiking. When we arrived at the second look-out point, I planned to turn around but the guys invited me to join them for a longer hike. Before I knew it, we were all the way down the canyon at the Colorado River.
“What do you do for work?” I asked them. “We work for the FBI,” they said. “You what?!” I exclaimed. “Tell me everything! Tell me something classified!” Obviously they wouldn’t, but I heard a little bit about their departments, backgrounds, and fitness requirements. They were the real deal.
As we walked, we talked about our families and traveling and favorite foods. Throughout the hike, the two guys had me walk in the middle of them — a safety precaution. Whenever we’d stop for a photo, I’d always end up right back in the middle. It was like they were kind, older protective brothers.
The hike up the canyon was nothing like the hike down. When there were 4 miles left (did I mention the whole hike was 14.8 miles?!), I didn’t know how my body was going to make it. But we kept encouraging each other (and I prayed to Jesus A LOT) and before I knew it (well, nine hours later), we made it to the top — utterly exhausted, yet excited about our accomplishment.
As I drove home that night, something clicked. “Oh my gosh,” I thought. “They were the angels from the prayer!” They took me down into the canyon and revealed a new aspect of God to me. They showed me how God protects me — protects all of us — and how God stations angels around us to guard us in all of our ways (Psalm 91:11). Sometimes these angels are in the spiritual realm, but sometimes God sends angels in human form to protect us, too.
Since my dad passed away, I’ve been asking God to show me who He is as Father. In the Grand Canyon, He showed me how He’s a protective Daddy who shields His children. Now when I am afraid or anxious, I imagine FBI agents guarding me in front and back. It’s such a comforting picture to hold onto.
In addition to protecting us, God is really clever. He continued the angel story last weekend when I had the opportunity to share this story with some young adults at an event. After, a woman texted me something that made me smile from ear to ear.
“Lauren, the guys were from Los Angeles,” she wrote. “Do you realize that Los Angeles means ‘City of Angels?’”
God, you don’t miss a detail.
Joyfully,
Lauren
