As we have just experienced another Independence Day perhaps you, like I, remembered the life threatening decision the signers of the Declaration of Independence accepted by signing that most important document of our American history. Though they could’ve been arrested and killed for treason, God was with them and not one of them lost his life for that reason.
The following is another documented true story of our first President and appeared in American history textbooks in our nation’s schools for almost 150 years, yet disappeared from those text books 50+ years ago along with other stories of Divine protection.
Years before he was our first President, George Washington, was a colonel of the Virginia militia and fought alongside the British troops against the French and American Indians in the French & Indian war.
On July 9, 1755 while marching through a wooded ravine the British and VA militia walked right into an ambush. The French and Indians began firing on them from both sides. In two hours of battle 714 of the 1300 British and American troops had been shot down. Only thirty of the French and Indians had been wounded.
Of the 86 British and American officers in this battle George Washington was the only officer who had not been shot off of his horse, though two horses had been shot from under him. He gathered the remaining troops and led them back to Ft. Cumberland, Maryland.
Upon returning to safety Washington penned a letter to his family. In this letter he stated that after the battle he had taken off his jacket and found four bullet holes through the jacket, however, not one bullet had even grazed him. He openly gave God the credit for sparing his life and protecting him through the battle.
Fifteen years later (1770 a time of peace) George Washington and a close personal friend Dr. James Craig returned to those same woods. An old Indian chief heard that George Washington, the mighty battle leader, was returning to those woods. So the Indian chief traveled a long way to meet him. In a face to face meeting the chief told Washington that he had been a leader of the Indians in that battle.
The Indian chief stated that he had instructed his braves to single out all of the officers and shoot them down, especially the ones on horseback. The chief said that he personally had shot at Washington 17 times without effect. Believing Washington to be under the care of the Great Spirit, the chief told his braves to cease firing at him.
He went on to say, “I have traveled a long and weary path that I might see the young warrior of the great battle. I am come to pay homage to the man who is the particular favorite of heaven, and who can never die in battle.”
You might say the moral of this story is God protects those who trust in Him. In fact God not only protects, but also demonstrates to our enemies His protection. No matter what you face today or this week, trust God. He has everything you need to bring you through all that awaits you.