THE WAR

THE WEATHER

& GOD

 

by

G.F. Vallance

 

---------------o---------------o---------------

Chapter 7

 

            What the world needs is Jesus Christ.  IT IS, whether we are all prepared to accept the FACT or not.  Without God; Men, Munitions, Ships, Navies, Tanks, Allies, Money, and all the rest are futile helps and useless.

 

            DO WE as a Nation realize; yea rather, do I individually realize, that if only we would COUNT more on God, quicker and greater Victories would be ours? I personally believe that WITH GOD ALONE we could achieve Victory, without any other resources at all, for God is all powerful.

 

            In days of old, He has destroyed whole armies by a mere sound in the dead of night, thereby causing a foe to destroy themselves.  In Joshua’s day, you will remember, God actually caused His SUN to stand still, so that Joshua might win the battle, and in Isaiah’s day, He gave the promise “I will defend this city,” and in one night sent an angel who destroyed 185,000 men, so that when Hezekiah’s men rose early in the morning, they found only dead corpses. ( Isa. 37, 35-36.)

 

            History you say – Yes, History indeed, but the God of History is the God of Prophecy, and the God of Prophecy is the

 

                                      GOD OF TODAY.

 

            All this and much more God has done in the past for those who trusted Him, and He can, and will do, the same again TODAY, if we, as a NATION – if we individually – are prepared to give Him our TRUST, our Faith, OUR CONFIDENCE.  For This God is our God.

 

            One morning during the last war, Lord Roberts and Lord Kitchener (both men of prayer) were together at the War Office when news came through of a Victory in Flanders.  One turned to the other and said “Someone must have been Praying,” and together they knelt and thanked God.  Those military Generals knew that PRAYER was mightier than the Sword, and were willing to acknowledge it.  May we likewise be as wise today.

 

            Our late Monarch, King George V., was a great man of prayer and a diligent reader of the Scriptures and he knew what it was to thus TRUST HIS GOD.

 

            In one of the darkest hours of that war, it is reported that someone said to him, “How will it ever end?”  King George prayerfully replied, “God will have to work a miracle.” And He did.

 

            Thank God for a gracious Queen who could say when Broadcasting on the 11th April, 1943, “The King and I are grateful to think that we and our family are remembered in your prayers.  We need them, and try to live up to them.  And we also pray that God will bless and guide our people in this country and in our great family throughout the Empire and will lead us forward, united and strong, into the paths of victory and peace.”

 

            But Nationally we seem to have forgotten God altogether of late, and as it were to aggravate matters, we have permitted His direct command that we shall not take His Name in vain, to be flagrantly broken, by permitting the B.B.C, play, of the life of Christ, with the Saviour Himself impersonated.  We must therefore be prepared for the consequences, for “The Lord will NOT hold him guiltless who taketh His Name in vain.”

 

            May His disapproval not be plainly seen in the subsequent events, in Malaya, Singapore, Burma, India, Libya, and even in happenings around our own shores?

 

            And is it not equally impressive to note the turn of the tide in our favour when the first of this series of Broadcasts ceased, which was on the 18th October, 1942.

 

            The British offensive began on October 23rd, 1942, the result of which was that Rommel was thrown right out of Africa.  Could there be any plainer fact than this? God is NOT mocked.  Unless we heed these warnings in time, greater tragedies must, and will come, for God will have His proper dues and recognition, and of that we must make no mistake.

 

            That Hitler, and all he stands for, will be entirely crushed, and defeated, there is not the shadow of a doubt, for God’s laws demand, and ensure, that it shall be so, but this Nation will not be the chosen vessel to bring it about if it so flouts and challenges Divine Sovereignty.

 

            Let us take heed.

 

            Remember also that God has another very heavy charge against this Country.  None can deny that we have desecrated His Sabbath Day of rest, not only with pleasure before the War, but by toil and study since, and while these things may appear expedient to us, from a human standpoint, Divine Principles stand supreme, and we cannot change or alter them without loss and suffering to ourselves.

 

            God said long years ago:

 

            “Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy.  Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger that is with thy gates.”

 

            And He has proved to us by centuries of experience, that those people who obeyed, He blessed, and those who disobeyed, suffered His righteous indignation.  Who are we, in our day, to assume that it should be otherwise now?

 

            Whether the Sabbath day be Sunday or Saturday, as some will argue, is beside the point, the important thing is that one DAY in seven belongs to God, and don’t let such minor cavillings as to which day is intended, spoil the major issue, that ONE day in every seven belongs to our Creator.

 

            Viscount Bennett, former Prime Minister of Canada, said in London on March 16th, 1942: “There is something wrong with this country.  I cannot say what it is, but I have seen the change come over it.”  He said he had been told that the British were essentially a religious people, but had forgotten it.

 

            How true these words were was illustrated a few days later when our esteemed Monarch King George VI appointed another Day of National Prayer – Sunday, March 29th.

 

            G. Ward Price, writing in the “Daily Mail” on the 24th of that month, wrote:

 

            “Is it nobody’s business to make this solemn Day of Supplication a memorable and heartstirring occasion? Let us stimulate the Nation’s Prayers as well as its subscriptions.  Will the War Cabinet attend any service next Sunday in a body?  If the occasion were one of thanksgiving for Victory they would certainly do so.  It may be uncharitable to conclude that they prefer to show themselves in public only when things are going well.”

 

            Mr. Churchill, in his book “London to Ladysmith” records that, while he was escaping from a Pretoria prison camp, in the South African War, he “prayed long and earnestly.” “He - and we - have great need to pay earnestly now.”  So said G. Ward Price.

 

            But DID the Nation go to Prayer? Was it a Day of NATIONAL Prayer?  Was it a 100 per cent Prayer effort, or was it a Day of Farce?

 

            The day previous, our Workers in Factory and on land were officially urged to work harder than ever, the following day (National Day of Prayer), and the Press of Monday, March 30th reported:

 

            “In towns, many families went from morning service to work on their allotments.  It was Sunday-on-the-land for may thousands.

 

            Owing to the harsh winter, seasonable work is behind the calendar.  So yesterday many of our 100,000 tractors were throbbing across the fields in the great plough-up and corn drive.  Every group of allotments saw men and women preparing seed beds and sowing.”

 

            This on God’s Day of Rest, of which He says, “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.”  And this on a Day appointed for National INTERCESSION.  Is THIS turning to God as HE desires?  Can you wonder if our Prayers go unanswered?  Let’s be honest about the matter.

 

            This is God’s command:

 

                   “Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.” (Ex. 34,21)

 

          Is there any wonder that THIS was the ONE DAY of National Prayer which was NOT followed by some outstanding Victory.

 

          Is there any wonder there was no manifest answer that day?

 

          The fact that we are at war does not permit us to break God’s Commandments, and violate the laws of God; neither does it give us license to desecrate His Day of Rest.

 

          WE may consider it expedient in time of War perhaps, but I ask: If I have a very intricate and delicate piece of machinery, or some valuable instrument; whom should I consider the best person to advise on its use and maintenance but its designer and maker?  Who then should know better the possibilities of the human frame on the one hand, and the many intricate workings of the Elements, and the Soil on the other hand, than the Maker of both Man and Nature?  Surely it is only common logic, that to disobey His ruling on such matters MUST eventually end in disaster even though, for the time being, it seems better and wiser otherwise, to human calculation?

 

          He who controls Day and Night, and Cold and Heat - which we have to acknowledge are beyond our powers – must surely have good reason for commanding that six days only shall be used for toil, and one for rest and worship of the Creator?

 

          In 1941, we had claimed the biggest harvest ever, due to the Farmers’ efforts on the Land.  But did we reap the biggest harvest ever? NO -  we did not.  We could have done, had we acknowledged God properly in the matter and God’s goodness in giving it to us, for it was all there ready to REAP – BUT WE DID NOT REAP IT – WHY?

 

          We praised the Creature rather than the Creator and the result – well, as you may know, 1941 saw the WETTEST August for may a long day.  What could have been a tremendous HARVEST was spoiled.  A Day of National Thanksgiving to God, and prayer for a fine August COULD and WOULD have given us the biggest Harvest ever, and since then the corn has been sown and the Harvests reaped on Sundays as well, by official authority.  I ask, can we EXPECT God’s blessing if we thus defy His Laws and commands?

 

          Again, one cannot but recall God’s action in the past.  Listen to these words:

 

          “But if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandments of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord be against you, as it was against your fathers.”

 

          And a careful reading of the 12th Chapter of the first book of Samuel will fully bear this out.

 

          Nor are these comments limited only to the workers on the Land. Our factory workers too have been urged, time and time again, to a full seven day week, with the thought that it was expedient, and therefore God’s direct Command in this matter could be ignored and disobeyed with impunity.  But what do we now find?

 

          Are not even our own Government officials, beginning to realize that, after all, God’s method was better than theirs, and that Sunday labour does not increase efficiency to anything life the extent we thought it would?  And may not the failure of many of our Training Schemes be largely due to the prominence that we have given to Sunday instruction?

 

          The Chief Inspector of Factories described in his report what happened in a factory which changed from 5.5 day to a 7 day week.

 

          After four weeks, production flagged until the output fell to that obtained when 5.5 days were worked.  The management went back to 5.5 days.  There was no loss in output.

 

          Let one quotation from the Daily Press suffice.

 

                   “Industrial fatigue, due to excessive working hours, is filling the consulting rooms of Britain’s doctors with thousands of war workers suffering from minor ailments.

 

                   So serious, it was said, was the position that the British Medical Association Annual Conference of representatives of local medical and panel committees unanimously passed a resolution urging the Minister of Health to investigate the matter.  Dr. H.G.Dain, of Birmingham, declared that some hours of work have had disastrous effects.

 

                   “People are suffering from exhaustion, physical and mental,” he said, ‘The Government has failed to recognize the correct number of hours which should be worked.  The result, is lowered production.”

 

          How much wiser and better it would have been to have obeyed the command of God from the beginning, and earned His blessing; rather than disobey and face His judgment.

 

          In 1855, During the Crimean War, our gracious Queen Victoria appointed a Day of humiliation and Prayer ON A WEEKDAY, when all business was suspended, every shop and place of amusement closed, and no work permitted except the tending of cattle. (How different to the National Day of Prayer of March, 1942).  The Fall of Sebastopol and the end of the Crimean War followed in the same year.

 

          This was repeated in the Indian Mutiny of 1857, with the same result.  If then, why not now?

 

          When this country realises NOW, what Queen Victoria realised then, we may expect to see VICTORY.  But whilst our Farmers are asked to sow their seed and reap their Harvests on the Lord’s Day, and workers generally are urged to break the Commandments of God, how can we expect blessing?  God WILL be recognized, let us make no mistake about that, and His Day must be restored.

 

          God is waiting to bless this Nation, but He cannot do so fully, until we are ready and prepared to give Him the Praise and the Glory for Victory granted, for that honour God will share with none.  He is a jealous God and jealous of His Divine prerogatives.

 

          When the U.S.A. was brought into the present conflict by Japan’s treacherous attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941, one of the first things that her noble President commanded was that the First Day of January, 1942, should be observed as a National Day of Prayer.  Why?  Because that great man of God knew, that without God’s help, all would be in vain.  He also knew that one with God is a Majority, and that he who stands with God is always on the winning side.  Yes, this is true, even if, at times, it does not appear so.  Such a public act of Faith and Confidence in God Cannot, and will not, go unrewarded.  He repeated that command for the 1st  January, 1943 and 1944.  

 

          A recent Broadcaster, decorated for gallant action in a Dock Area Blitz, told of the extreme danger he and his fellow Firemen were in, and added that he was not ashamed to say, that when none of them knew which moment would be their last, HE PRAYED; and said that if God permitted them to see morning light He would indeed have been good to them.  They did see morning light, and thanked God.  If men PRAY at such times – and THEY DO, - why not TODAY?

 

          When the Disciples were in that Storm on the Lake (Matt. 8, 23) and Jesus was asleep on a pillow in the hinder part of the Ship, they awoke the Master saying “Carest Thou not that we perish.”  He arose, calmed the troubled Sea and then rebuked them saying, ”How is it that ye have NO faith?” We may be inclined to think the Saviour a little harsh on that occasion, but you see they, like us, had failed to grip the wonderful Truth that where Christ is, disaster can never come.

 

                   “No waters can swallow the ship where lies,

 

                   The Master of Ocean, and Earth, and Skies.”

 

          The crux of the matter is this  - IS CHRIST in the BOAT? Are we weathering the storm WITH HIM – or alone?  If the Boat has Christ aboard it will reach Harbour.  IT MUST! So shall we – BUT there were also other little ships that day riding the storm in Galilee. We are told; but we know not the destiny of any of them for the Master was NOT ON BOARD. Let us take heed.  WITH GOD all will be well.

 

          It was in August, 1918, that a Day of Repentance and Prayer was appointed, and the Armistice followed in November of that year.

 

          We saw earlier on, the Hand of God “Writing on the Wall” in the Diary of Events recorded, showing us first, that no matter what our human effort may be, it can all be destroyed by God in a moment of time by the breath of His mouth.  It only needs one unexpected element in the weather to upset all man’s calculations, as Commander Anthony Kimmins said in his Broadcast, and as Hitler discovered at the time of his intended Invasion of this Country in September, 1940.

 

          One other record of history must suffice.

 

          The destruction of the Spanish Armada in 1588 was not due to the forces of England.  It was obvious to Queen Elizabeth that when the Spanish fleet lay wrecked along the coasts of England and Scotland, it was mainly due to the unprecedented gales that scattered the enemy.  Sixty-three ships were lost and history records that the Spanish fleet “suffered more from the elements than the English.” In acknowledgment of Divine intervention, the Queen caused a medal to be struck with the inscription “HE BLEW HIS WINDS and they were scattered.” This medal, previous to the outbreak of War, could be seen in the Plaquette room of the British Museum.

 

          History you say – yes, History indeed, but the God of History is the God of Prophecy, and the God of prophecy is the God of today.

 

          All this and much more God has done in the past for those who trusted Him, and He can, and will do, the same again TODAY if we, as a nation – if we individually – are prepared to give GOD our TRUST, our Faith, OUR CONFIDENCE. For this God is our God.

 

          If we really and truly believe that there is a God that ruleth in the Heavens, then why are we so foolish as to think that we may continually ignore His Will, disobey His commands, defy His laws, and yet not reap the subsequent harvest?

 

          It is, as we all know, an unalterable law of life, Nature, and of God’s kingdom that whatsoever a man (or nation for that matter) soweth, that shall he (or they) also reap.

 

          YOU have tried it in life my friend – and in your innermost self you know that it’s true.

 

          Then why not let us together SEEK GOD’S FACE in true repentance and humiliation, and He will prove to us that His promise is true that –

 

          “If My people…. Shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My Face, and turn from their wicked ways: then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sins, and will heal their land.” (2. Chron. 7, 14.)

 

          God tells us, that:

 

          “THEY SHALL KNOW WHOSE WORD SHALL STAND – MINE OR THEIRS.” And surely He has been trying to speak to us as a Nation by what we may have hitherto regarded are “MERE CO-INCIDENCES,” but which I trust, as level headed men and women, we may rather see to be something far greater and more significant.  Hitherto we have undoubtedly been deaf to the voice of God, defiant of His Commands, and ungrateful to His many interventions.

 

          There is yet time.  Can we not as a Nation acknowledge our shortcomings and seek to give God His due recognition, and give His Day of Rest its proper place in our lives.

 

          If not – then time alone will show to what extent God will permit us to be further humbled, and brought to acknowledge His Hand, before final victory becomes our portion.

 

                                      WHEN SHALL WE SEE IT?

 

          I trust before it is too late.

 

          Let us not boast in our own strength, our own forces, whether they be Armies, Navies, Air Forces, Allies or ought else of earth.  Thank God for them all, and give them their due praise and merit, but remember that God ALONE has been our help in ages past, and desires to be our hope for years to come.  But if we continue to turn a deaf ear to all God’s pleadings let us beware lest He saith in His wrath

 

“LET HIM ALONE.” (Hosea. 4, 17.)

 

          ‘Because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before Mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.” (Isa. 65,12.)

 

          “Only FEAR THE LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things He hath done for you.  BUT if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed.” (1 Sam. 12, 24.)

 

“When our Faiths are attacked and derided

And some have forgotten to pray-

Remember that Hope is eternal-

THAT GOD HAS THE LAST WORD TO SAY.”

 

TO SUM UP:-

 

          IT WAS PRAYER that stopped Rommel on July 1st 1942.

 

          IT WAS PRAYER that gave us the Miracle of Dunkirk.

 

          IT WAS PRAYER that gave us the Battle of Britain.

 

          IT WAS PRAYER that gave us the East and North Africa victories.

 

          IT WAS PRAYER that gave us Victory, 1914-1918.

 

          IT WAS PRAYER that gave us Victory in the Crimea.

 

          IT WAS PRAYER that gave us Victory in the Indian Mutiny.

 

          IT WAS PRAYER that gave us Victory over the Spanish Armada.

 

                             OR  WAS  IT  -  CO-INCIDENCE?

 

          More is done by prayer than this world dreams of, for Prayer is the power that moves the arm that moves the world and brings deliverance down.