Do Angels smoke pipes
– part two
I thought you would like to know what happened next, the
sequel to my story about the pipe smoking angel who gave me £200. A friend was supposed to meet Pauline and I in
Lagos airport but he did not turn up. We
made our way through passport control and customs; then found ourselves stuck
in the airport not knowing where to go or what to do next.
While I was sorting the final paperwork, my wife was
standing by a barrier just inside the country, feeling traumatised by the few
hours that we had just gone through of being marched up and down by a rather,
in our opinion, unstable gun-toting boarder guard. I think Pauline had been crying a little due
to the intense pressure and was still feeling stressed and wanting to
immediately fly home to the UK. As she
waited for me a young Nigerian man came up to her and said, ‘you seem to be in
trouble, can I help?’ Going on her very
recent experience she was unwilling to trust any stranger, in what was to her a
strange country. As she was responding,
‘no thank you I do not need help.’ I
arrived back at her side with cases and completed paperwork. The young man said to me, ‘I’m not sure what
has happened to you but obviously you have been through some kind of difficult
time can I show you where the airport restaurant is, I’m sure you would be glad
of a coffee.’ It had taken a great deal
of time up to this point, due to the gun happy guard and the stringent passport
control so I said, ‘yes okay, it would be a good idea to sit down with coffee
to sort out our next move.’ Plus I now had lots of Naira in my pocket and it
was a long time since our last meal. The
young man escorted us to the restaurant and the staff seated us. The young man said ‘let me leave you to it,
you have obviously had a hard time I will come back in an hour or so see if you
are ok,’ we thanked him, ordered food and coffee, and tried to unwind a little.
We decided to go and find a room for the night; just before
the hour was up I signalled to the waiter that we wanted to pay the bill, ‘what
bill sir?’ he said. ‘For the food and
drinks,’ I replied. ‘Well sir, the waiter replied, ‘your friend who brought you
in has already settled the bill.’ To say
I was surprised is an understatement. This
stranger who knew nothing about us had paid for us to have a meal, in a place
that was quite expensive for locals.
Just as Pauline and I were discussing this strange turn of events the
young stranger appeared again, and asked if we felt better. We thanked him and
said that we felt much better and began to talk to him about our story, and the
fact that we believed that God had been looking after us and that knowing Jesus
and being in touch with the Father was great at times like this. We then asked him why he had come to help us
and why he had paid our bill.
He said, ‘I travelled a long way today, from up country, to
meet a friend who was supposed to come in on a flight at the same time as you
came through customs, but he did not arrive, I was feeling a little fed up
thinking I have come such a long way, for no purpose and I prayed Father
God why have I come all this way for
nothing, and I distinctly heard God say to me you are here today to help that
couple over there, they have had a hard time.
Many years ago I went to study in the USA, at that time I did not know
God, but just like you, when I got off the plane the person who was going to
meet me and help me did not arrive. I was standing in the airport totally
bemused as to what to do and a man came up to me and said, ‘you are in trouble
can I help you?’ To cut a long story short this man really knew God, he ended
up taking me to his home where I lived for two years, and he even helped me pay
my college fees, I found God in his home and it has changed my life, I want to
at least put some of that experience of God’s favour back into someone else’s
life.’
The young man settled us into a hotel; he looked after us
for three days until we finally made contact with our friend who was supposed
to meet us, who somehow had the dates mixed up.
And no I did not lose his address, so perhaps he was not an
angel, I rather think he was a young man listening to God and being a great
help to us in our need.
I don’t know still what to think about my pipe smoking angel,
but I am convinced that in times of need God is with us and cares for us. Sometimes I don’t understand his answers,
sometimes I am puzzled by events. But I am confident that God cares, loves and is
listening to those who know Him as Father God, and yes from time to time he sends
his messengers both angelic and human to assist in time of need. What do you think?
For Adrian Hawkes
Blogspot.com
Edited by Technicolour
text
8th July
2012
W. 958
