The Interposing Hand of Heaven

 

"I take a particular pleasure in acknowledging that the interposing hand of Heaven, in the various instances of our extensive preparations for this operation, has been most conspicuous and remarkable." - Washington, Letter to Thomas McKean, President of Congress, November 15, 1781

George Washington's reflections on the most conspicuous and remarkable providence of God in the events leading up to the surrender of Lord General Cornwallis at Yorktown are the result of the following divine activity...

1. If General Washington had not decided to leave New York and march to Yorktown when he did, Cornwallis would have been reinforced.

2. If Robert Morris, the generous and capable merchant, had not used extraordinary means to raise money to pay Washington’s troops, they would have gone home rather than to Yorktown.

3. If France had not sent a fleet from the West Indies (unknown to Washington), which arrived just in time to defeat the British fleet sent to relieve General Cornwallis at Yorktown, Cornwallis could have escaped. In this battle, the French fleet, under Admiral de Grasse, soundly defeated the British, cutting off all sea routes.

4. If a sudden tornado-like storm had not stopped Lord Cornwallis in his last-minute attempt on October 16, 1781, to cross the York River and escape to New York, the war would have dragged on. - Marshall Foster, The American Covenant, the Untold Story.

Praying for revival is inviting the interposing Hand of Heaven to  break into the chaos and conflict of our nation once again. Such a request should be natural and urgent when it comes from the heart of believers who have experienced the providential Hand of God in their own lives...

"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." - 2 Chronicles 7:14.

Where in your heart, your home, your community, and your nation do you urgently need the interposing Hand of Heaven today?