What About Guardian Angels?

In our culture today we often hear references to guardian angels. The plethora of television shows or movies regarding this idea is extensive. Although these shows are often fun to watch and even heartwarming at times, is the idea of a guardian angel something that can be supported from Scripture or is it just something that has been assumed over the years?

To answer this question, we need to go to Scripture. As we do this, we see that it clearly tells us that God does send angels for our protection. We see this in Psalm 91:11-12 ~ For He Lest you dash your foot against a stone. This passage is speaking of a general protection; however some people go beyond the idea of general protection and wonder if God gives a specific guardian angel for everyone in the world, or at least for each Christian. Those who propose this will point to Matthew 18:10 where we see Jesus’ words to little children, “in heaven their angels always behold the face of my father who is in heaven.” What we need to understand is that this may simply have been a statement saying that angels who are assigned the task of protecting children have ready access to God’s presence.  

To use an athletic analogy, the angels may be playing “zone” rather than “man-on-man” defense. There is no solid convincing support for the idea of individual “guardian angels” in the text of Scripture. This should not cause us to be discouraged or disheartened by any means. We do see that there is support that angels in general are assisting us. So, wether it be one specific guardian angel or angels in general, we can take comfort in the fact that God is watching over us and nothing and no one will be able to harm us outside of God’s perfect will.

So, go ahead and watch the reruns of Touched by an Angel or Highway to Heaven, remembering that they are fiction, meant for entertainment and not theological fact to be referred to as support for guardian angels. Also, the next time your child asks you if we have a guardian angel tell them that God has assigned the angels the task of watching over us therefore, they have nothing to worry about.