A Brush with Death Taught me How to Listen

By Doreen Virtue

I suppose everyone dislikes being told what to do. How-ever, this trait almost cost me my life. I'd made my own decisions throughout my career as a psychotherapist, and as a wife, and mother. I was free-spirited and independent. Yet, during my quieter moments, I'd hear an inner voice guide me to make positive changes in my life. For instance, I was guided to eat more healthfully, and to talk about angels in my therapy and writing practices.

Even though I knew this Divine guidance was correct, I stubbornly resisted. I wanted to make my own decisions, and I didn't trust that it was safe to publicly speak about angels. I didn't recognize that God and the angels were only trying to answer my prayers for greater health and happiness. It took a brush with death before I was humbled enough to realize that God really does know best.

On July 15, 1995, I was getting dressed to leave for an appointment in Anaheim, California, an hour's drive away. As I stepped from the bedroom into the bathroom, I heard a loud adult male voice outside my right ear. "You better put the top up on your car, or it will be stolen," it said.

Even though all of my psychological training had taught me that hearing voices was a sign of auditory hallucinations, this voice was different. Hallucinations are abusive and paranoid. This was a clear, loving, and firm voice telling me to put the top up on my convertible car. It was definitely an angelic messenger.

I instantly understood the message's meaning. My car was a small white convertible four-seater. When its top was down, the white car with its white upholstery was stunning and eye-catching. But you'd barely notice the car with its wallflower appearance when the coarse black cloth top was up.

"But my top is broken!" I mentally argued back at the voice. Only later did I realize how stubborn I was being.

"Then have Grant put the top up," the voice clearly said, referring to my teenage son. But I was running late to my appointment, so I chose to ignore that advice, too.

"You better put the top up on your car, or it will be stolen," the angel ominously warned one more time.

As I drove to my appointment, I thought about the message... As the sun bore down on me, I doubted the validity of the angel's message. "Who would steal a car on a Saturday afternoon in broad daylight?" I thought. Besides, my appointment was at a church, and I couldn't believe that God would let anything bad happen to me at church. But, just to be safe, I prayed fervently while driving, asking for God's protection for myself and my car.

As I drove along Lincoln Boulevard, I felt a cold chill of negativity, as if someone had poured a bucket of paint over me and my car. "I've been spotted," was my immediate thought. I felt like prey in the lens of a hunter's gun.

I prayed even harder. "Please, God, don't let my car be stolen!" I said aloud. Surely, God and the angels wouldn't allow harm to come to me, even though I'd ignored His Divine guidance to put up my car's top. "Oh, if only I'd listened!" I fretted.

I pulled into the church parking lot and selected a parking space close by the church entrance. I asked for angels to surround my car as I climbed out of the car. I turned to put my key in the door to lock the car, when I heard a loud male voice behind me. This time, it wasn't an angel.

"Give me your car keys and purse right now!" the voice commanded. I turned around to face an angry-looking man. He had one hand outstretched, demanding my possessions, and another hand stuffed inside his shirt. A second man stood next to a car with a running engine, obviously an accomplice with a get-away car. Time stood still as I pondered my options. Then, God and the angels answered my prayers for protection.

"Scream with all your might, Doreen," the familiar voice of the angel counseled me. Even though I'd ignored his previous warnings, the angel hadn't abandoned me! This time – perhaps the first time in my life – I followed my angel's guidance and screamed as loud as I could.

I felt like a cavewoman, uttering some primal scream from deep within. My attacker's eyes widened with anxious surprise, and he backed away. Meanwhile, a woman sitting in her car noticed the commotion, and she leaned on her car horn to make noise on my behalf. My screams and the car horn attracted the attention of the churchgoers, and the two men jumped into their car and drove away quickly.

I dropped to my knees in the parking lot, while my friends from the church gathered around. "Father, thank you for saving my life!" I said. He'd protected me completely, and I still had my life, purse, and car. I promised God, right then, that I'd never ignore His angels' guidance ever again.

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