Blog Directory ID: 2317
Blog URL: http://godhistoryandyou.blogspot.com/
Google Pagerank: N/A
Blog Description: Early American history from a different perspective, designed to educate, encourange and inspire. Showing the hand of God in our nation's beginnings.
Blog Category: History Blogs
Blog Owner: Christina
Blog Added: April 24, 2008 08:54:42 PM
Audience Rating: General Audience
Blog Country: 
United States Number Hits: 5 |  Blog Rating: 0.00 |  Rate Blog: Submit rating |  Review Blog |
| Latest Blog Reviews | |||
| |||
| Add the Review Me Button to your Blog! | |||
 <a href="http://www.bloggingfusion.com//review-blog-2317.html"><img src="http://www.bloggingfusion.com//images/linkware/review-me-at-blogging-fusion.png" alt="Review God, History and You at Blogging Fusion Blog Directory" style="border:0px;" /></a> | |||
| Our Sponsors | |||
"A Step between Me and Death"
"And David... said,...but truly as the Lord liveth, there is but a step between me and death." (1 Samuel 20: 3)
David, son of Jesse, former shepherd boy anointed by the prophet Samuel to become the next king of Israel had no illusions about his predicament in life. Saul, the present king of Israel, was out to get him. Fatally. Terminally. Permanently.
Some background: The near cataclysmic event that brought young David into the limelight was his unprecedented slaughter of the the giant Goliath. But a much less obvious occurrence had previously brought the shepherd boy to the attention of King Saul. Unbeknownst to the king, David had just been anointed by Samuel as the one chosen by God to become the next king, and with that anointing, Scripture tells us that "the Spirit of the Lord came upon David." Awesome. Unfortunately for Saul, at that time, God's spirit departed from him. Even worse, we read in 1 Samuel 16:14 that an evil spirit came along to trouble King Saul. Seeking relief from his suffering, Saul requested music. David was known for his skill as a harpist, and was summoned to play for the king. Voila! We read in verse 23 that the evil spirit departed.
So David begins his relationship with Saul on a high note, right? He brings deliverance from torment, yet, as we shall see, again and again Saul tried to kill him. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you!
Before King Saul went ballistic! against David, this future king of Israel braved other life-threatening circumstances as well. While tending a flock of sheep, "there came a lion and a bear", one of which had the audacity and ignorance to snatch a lamb from the flock. (Now, I'm thinkin', get outta Dodge!) Not David. Scripture tells us he went out after them and "slew both the lion and the bear," recovering the terrified lamb. David credits his God for this amazing feat.
"David said...The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear..." (1 Samuel 17: 37)
Then, of course, there is the Goliath incident. Now Goliath was a pretty big dude. I read, about 9 3/4 feet tall. His armor alone weighed about 180 lbs., and that was only the coat of mail! I get that alot of people may dismiss this account as myth, but if you believe it as fact, how could you NOT see how easily David could have been literally crushed. But a) David knew that the same God who accomplished the above victory for him would also "deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine" and b) he had a mission and calling from God. His destiny was to reign over Israel, the people of God.
Following his slaughter of Goliath, David's popularity exploded throughout all Israel, to the point that Saul definitely began to feel like a second-class citizen. Yep, that ol' green-eyed monster, folks...Saul became "very wroth", and he "eyed David from that day and forward." (We are talking evil eye here, by the way.) If I have my timeline straight, as soon as the day after the defeat of Goliath, Saul's jealousy of the young hero prompted him to cast a javelin at David in an attempt to murder him....TWICE.
When that failed, Saul plotted. Once again, his plans were foiled. He offered his daughter in marriage to David, but first David had to acquire one hundred Philistine foreskins as a sort of dowry. You see where I'm goin' with this, right? Death by Philistines? By now it should come as no surprise that David shows up with the foreskins. And not only does he show up with them, he shows up with not the required one but rather two hundred foreskins, and bingo! he's now the king's son-in-law.
By now Saul "saw and knew that the Lord was with David." On top of that, Saul's daughter Michal really loved David. Saul must have been pulling his hair out at this point. So he tells his servants and his son Jonathan to kill David. However, by now Jonathan and David had become fast friends. Jonathan, shall we say, 'put in a good word' for David, and Saul changed his mind.
Temporarily.
Eventually Saul pulled the javelin routine again. David escaped.
So Saul staked out David's house, planning to have David slain next morning, but David's wife assisted in his escape that night through a window.
David left the immediate area and stayed with the prophet Samuel. Three times Saul sent men to apprehend David, but it just wasn't happenin'...I could go on, but I'm hoping the point has been made that David could not have been killed. His destiny had not yet come to pass in its fullness.
"Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand." (1 Samuel 23: 14)
While it is true that David was on the run for awhile, lived in wilderness caves and strongholds, had to feign insanity at one point to escape yet another life-threatening situation, and at times was "sore afraid", still, we see that he lived to rule and reign as king of Israel for forty years. (1 Kings 2: 11)
Thank you for stopping by and reading my post, and for giving me a reason and opportunity to share this, my greatest joy.
Christina
Whew! That Was Close!
"I now exist and appear in the land of the living by the miraculous care of Providence"
-George Washington, in a letter to John Augustine Washington, 1755
My personal belief is that, if you have been designed by God to fulfill a specific mission, neither heaven, nor hell, nor anyone or anything in between will be able to remove you from the earth until you have done so. You will get there and you will do it.
The Old Testament man 'after God's own heart', David, the shepherd boy who became king of Israel, had a few close calls. Further down in this article, we'll get to that. Right now, though, let me tell you about some of George Washington's escapes from death.
1} In Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington (published in 1860), Martha Washington's grandson, (basing his articles on information gleaned from two of Washington's childhood cousins), relates an account of a teen-aged George's perhaps foolhardy encounter with a horse so vicious that no one could even bridle, let alone ride it. Deciding to test his stamina and skill against the steed, George let his friends struggle to tie it up and force a bit into it's mouth, then managed to mount the animal. Once released, the horse went berserk. The grandson's account indicates that George's young friends began to regret their actions and fear that his clash with the violent animal was "likely to be fatal..."
And it was, but not to George...
The horse "summoning all his powers...reared, and plunged with tremendous violence, burst his noble heart, and died in an instant."
(Note: While I realize that this story cannot be proven to be absolutely true 1} the actual point of the author's account had to do with George Washington's honesty; falsifying facts seems unlikely and 2] there has been medical corroboration that such sudden equine death is possible.)
2} The 1750's saw the struggle between the French and the British (colonists) for the control of the Ohio Valley river system located in western Pennsylvania and Virginia. Washington, at that time having been appointed as Adjutant to the Virginia militia (link), became involved in diplomatic and military efforts to prevent the French from gaining possession of the Valley. In an ongoing attempt to thwart a French victory, in the spring of 1755, General Braddock, with Washington as his aide, led 1,700 British and colonial troops against the French forces at Fort Duquesne. In Washington's own words, the British were "scandalously beaten." He tells us, as well, in a letter to his brother recorded in Papers of George Washington (Colonial Series, Vol.1) that during the fray, he took four bullets through his coat, and two horses were shot out from under him.
General Braddock, however, was killed.
3} About a week before the Declaration of Independence was signed, an American soldier named Thomas Hickey was hanged for his part in a mutinous scheme against the Revolutionary cause. The Blackwell Encyclopedia of the American Revolution cites Hickey as conspiring to deliver General Washington to the British. Possibly an exaggeration. However the following link does indicate the possibility of such an intention, at least. (This man was a sentinel in the Commander-in-Chief's Guard, a unit formed to protect General Washington, his papers, and the Continental Army's cash funds.)
Sergeant Thomas Hickey Court-Martial: 1776 - Suggestions For Further Reading
In my own life, I sometimes wonder if I'm wasting time, investing my energy and effort in one area when perhaps I should be directing it into another. Am I prioritizing properly? Am I even in God's will? Will I die before I've accomplished the things that matter? What, in fact, are some of those things, for me? When I stop and think about events and patterns such as the ones listed above, however, I am reminded that the God in Whom I believe "gets you there". He protects you from that which would steal your destiny. He protects you from yourself! if necessary. In Psalm 138, the aforementioned David wrote that the Lord would accomplish (or complete) what concerned him. That same principle held true for George Washington. He "got there". Perhaps it will hold true for you, as well...
Speaking of David, in Part 2 of this post I'll be examining some of his brushes with death, also. I hope you'll return for the conclusion.
One More Time! (conclusion)
(click Here to read Part 1)Absolutely convinced that the Americans were trapped in Brooklyn Heights with no chance of escape, the British troops had backed off and made camp, staying beyond the range of patriot weapons' fire. (The pouring rain would, most likely, have rendered those weapons useless anyway.) The American soldiers, at this point, were 'sitting ducks'.
Or so it seemed.
The heavy rainfall kept the British at bay for two days. During that time, Washington decided that a retreat back across the East River was the army's only hope for survival. But how was he to transport nine thousand men, their supplies, horses, cannons! and more across the river, without being detected by the enemy?
The General allowed his troops to believe that a counter-attack was being planned, thereby keeping up all signs of normal activity, thus deceiving the British as to his true intentions. ( He spread the word that the wounded were being sent back to Manhattan, however.) Late on the night of August 29, 1776, the troops were ordered, one by one, down to the river. Expecting to board boats and vessels heading into battle, instead the men found they were headed to safety.
By 2 A.M., however, not even half the men had reached the other side of the East River. The approaching dawn saw just half of the troops safely on the far shore. Washington must have been sick with dread. Discovery was imminent, and with it, death.
Michael and Jana Novak, in their book Washington's God , tell us this: "Yet, just as dawn began to stretch its colorful fingertips across the horizon, a heavy fog rolled in." Under its cover, Washington was able to evacuate the rest of his army, undetected, and less than an hour after all were safely in Manhattan, the fog lifted.
At its onset, the denseness of the fog would have appeared to be a hazard and an obstruction. The men could barely see in front of them. Its very thickness, however, was in fact what hid their movements from the enemy. It was their deliverance.
Pause to reconsider when unexpected developments appear to hinder your plans.
One More Time!
At the risk of belaboring a point, I want to share with you another example of what could, from one perspective, be seen as a critical hindrance to achieving a goal, but from another, one realizes that it was, for some, a life-saving grace.Some months after the re-taking of Boston, Washington was ordered by the Continental Congress to proceed to New York City, in order to prevent a British invasion there. So, in the middle of August, 1776, the General and some 20,000 of his troops headed south. British Admiral Richard Howe and his brother, General William Howe awaited them outside the city, commanding almost 400 warships and transports combined. Most of my reference sources cite 32,000 British soldiers being aboard those ships, but Blackwell's Encyclopedia of the American Revolution indicates an additional 13,000 'seamen' as well. Out-manned, out-gunned, without a navy...not looking too good for the Americans, at this point.
Also, Washington made one of his first major strategic errors in this engagement. He had not provided for any military intelligence. ( In forthcoming posts, I'll be writing about George Washington's eventual spy ring, however. The first CIA?)
At this point, the British forces were assembling near Brooklyn, so General Washington divided his army, bringing the bulk of them from Manhattan to Brooklyn, then settling in at Brooklyn Heights. (In retrospect, this division of troops would be seen as another strategic error.) A discounted possibility of British attack by way of a small, unguarded pass proved fatal. Two-thirds of the enemy's army traveled up this road, under cover of darkness, and by dawn the entire force was gathered at Bedford, both north and behind the American lines.
Just past midnight, on the morning of August 27, 1776, the battle began.
By that night, not yet two months after the signing if the Declaration of Independence, the American cause seemed fated to extinction. From the vantage point in the fort at Brooklyn Heights, Washington could only watch and wait, as very few of his men made it back.
And then, a downpour...
Once again, 'weather conditions' (hand of God?) intervened.
(Please return for the conclusion of the battle at Brooklyn Heights.)
When Plans Go Awry...(Part 2)
(click Here for Part 1)Two days later, in a message written to his personal secretary and aide, Joseph Reed, General Washington agreed with the conclusion of another one of his generals that 'kind Heaven' had intervened on behalf of the Americans. At the time, however, Washington knew deep frustration and bitter disappointment. He was denied leading his troops to the glorious victory he had intended for them. If I were in Washington's position, I might have even harbored the resentful suspicion that I had been 'set up' by the One I expected to lead and protect me!
God is efficient is His actions, however. We see them from an earthbound perspective, so many times, the heavenly Plan isn't obvious. 'Til later...
In addition to the impossible weather conditions, the presence of such an arsenal of guns and cannons, so well-positioned on the Dorchester Heights hill, and being faced-down by four thousand American soldiers gave the British commander pause. He ordered Boston's evacuation. Requesting a temporary truce, General Howe set plans in motion to withdraw his men and ships. On March 17, just twelve days after the date of the intended battle, and without a shot being fired, the British were gone.
Though General Washington wanted a grand, triumphant victory, the Lord knew better. As it turned out, once the Americans regained Boston and were able to assess its defensive conditions under British occupation, they realized that, though their planned assault may very well have succeeded, it could not have done so without immense carnage.
Sometimes, when plans seem to go awry...they aren't.
When Plans Go Awry...
Sometimes, your plans are coming together unexpectedly well, and victory appears to be within reach, so close!! and then, the bottom falls out. Now what? And also, why is this happening? (For me, the answer to the second question is far more important than the answer to the first one!)
Let me illustrate such a situation which occurred in the city of Boston, in the spring of 1776.
As mentioned in an earlier post (click Here to read ) ,after being elected commander-in-chief of the colonial troops in early July 1775, George Washington departed Philadelphia and headed north, arriving outside a besieged Boston. The city had been occupied by enemy forces, in varying numbers, for almost seven years, (in response to the Americans' retaliation for the seizure of John Hancock's ship Liberty, as well as their resistance to British taxation and customs policies.) At one point, according to Douglas Edward Leach, in his essay The British Army in America, before 1775, the beginning of that year saw a ratio of one British soldier to every five Bostonians. Though the opposing armies were not engaged in active combat at the time of his arrival, Washington had good reason to seek to evacuate the enemy soldiers.
His men were restless. Enlistments were ending in December, and many men were not re-enlisting. Money and supplies were not in abundance, and Washington felt that it would be wise to take action while he still had some resources at his disposal.
A most favorable turn of events took place in late November. A British supply ship, with all its weaponry, was captured. Arms, mortars, cannon and much-needed ammunition suddenly came into Washington's possession. He saw this timely bounty as coming from the God in Whom he believed, assistance from Above. These unexpected resources proved even more
valuable when those soldiers whose 'tour of duty' ended returned home, taking their guns with them!
Another near-miraculous provision of weapons arrived in the form of the guns retrieved from the captured Fort Ticonderoga. This was no small feat, as the guns reputedly weighed over 120,000 pounds, and had to be transported hundreds of miles over lakes, mountains and roads barely fit to be called that. All this in bitter winter weather. One can see how Washington would view this amazing feat as being even more evidence that Providence was with him in his intentions to rout the British.
Boston was heavily fortified. So instead of launching an offensive against the city, American troops planned to draw the enemy out of the city by taking possession of a nearby hill overlooking Boston Harbor, engaging the British in battle on the hill. Then, with Boston being in large part vacated, a segment of the American army would then move in and take back the town.
The fact that Washington's men were able to even get the necessary concealments, fortifications, guns and cannons up the steep, frozen slope of Dorchester Heights was yet another near-miracle event. Under cover of darkness, some four thousand patriot soldiers trudged up the hill as well, and though a British brigadier general was notified of suspicious American activity, he ignored the report.
All was at the ready. It was the morning of March 5, 1776.
British Major General William Howe assembled his troops for battle.
That night, and throughout the next day, a violent storm battered the city, and Washington was unable to attack.
(Please return for the summation of '"When Plans Go Awry...")
My Yahoo! Google NewsGator Stumbleupon PluckIT Rojo Bloglines My AOL Blogrolling ENewsblog NewsIsFree NetVibes del.icio.us Technorati Digg This FeedMailerOr if you prefer use one of our linkware images? Click here
Report Blog Listing - 
Refer Blog Listinghttp://www.bloggingfusion.com/god-history-and-you-blog-directory-2317.html