© 2022 Don Pinson | [Download]
(Link not working? Right-click and select “Save As”.)

It was December, 1777. George Washington’s army filed silently into their winter camp at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Washington would tell of the amazing commitment of these men by reporting how you could trace their path by the bloody tracks they were leaving. A great many of the 11,000 were barefooted; many were nearly naked in this freezing cold. More than 2,000 would die that winter from lack of food and shelter. Yet the miracle was—they didn’t leave. Why?

While it won’t be revealed completely until we stand before the Lord at the Judgment, at least one reason is the praying that George Washington did that winter. There were different reports by people who said they came unexpectedly upon Washington kneeling in the snow in the woods, earnestly pleading with God for the cause of his nation. While Washington was a very private person, and not at all given to showy religion, people close to him reported of his consistent devotions to God. No doubt the last words his mother said to him before he left home to embark on his military career had greatly impacted him. Mary Washington had admonished him:

“My son, neglect not the duty of secret prayer.”

(Washington, George. November 1753, in his parting words from his mother, Mrs. Mary Washington. John N. Norton, Life of General Washington (1870), p. 34 | Peter Marshall and David Manuel, The Light and the Glory (Old Tappan, NJ; Revell Company, 1977), p. 285.)

Likewise, Washington’s host that winter told of stumbling onto the General in prayer in the woods near Valley Forge. Isaac Potts, a Quaker who didn’t believe in war, made a surprising statement to his wife after this. He said,

“…Till now I have thought that a Christian and a soldier were characters incompatible; but if George Washington be not a man of God, I am mistaken, and still more shall I be disappointed if God does not through him perform some great thing for this country.”

(Washington, George. Winter of 1777, Washington’s Prayer at Valley Forge as observed by Isaac Potts, recounted by his wife, Ruth Anna Potts. William Herbert Burk, D.D., The Washington Window in the Washington Memorial Chapel of Valley Forge, p. 25 | William J. Johnson, George Washington – The Christian (St. Paul, MN: William J. Johnson, Merriam Park, February 23, 1919) | John Eidsmoe, Christianity and the Constitution – The Faith of Our Founding Fathers (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, A Mott Media Book, 1987, 6th printing 1993), pp. 113-114.)

God did answer Washington’s prayers and the prayers of many other Americans that winter. Though over 2,000 of them would die from exposure and malnutrition, the army would emerge the next spring a well-disciplined unit ready to face the British with serious fighting ability.

The military need was met by one Baron Von Steuben, a Prussian army officer with a passion for drill. He volunteered! Yes, volunteered to help Washington in this fight for liberty. In the snow he marched, trained, and taught the men how to move together as a unit and fire rounds every fifteen seconds. Only God knows how far this went in later giving these American soldiers victory over Britain’s army.

Likewise, the Lord provided food for this army in a supernatural way. In February the army was literally starving to death. But God answered the prayers of their General and other Americans with a turn in natural events. One day a soldier noticed the waters in the river were being disturbed. Between the chunks of ice he could see thousands of fish swimming upstream. He yelled to other soldiers to help and they used pitch forks to literally harvest the fish by throwing them out onto the bank. This was no less than the Hand of God since these fish normally didn’t make this migration until two months later! God provided for these men who were fighting for liberty: Liberty that would protect the right to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the next generation.

Are you willing to trust God in helping you do the otherwise impossible task of preserving liberty? If you are the Bible promises that,

“…the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9)

Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you—and for your children! And you won’t like what that brings to you. I’m Don Pinson; this has been Think About It.