WND There are various examples that indicate the providence of God in history using weather.
• GEORGE WASHINGTON. In a famous painting, General George Washington is shown crossing the Delaware River on Christmas night 1776. With snow falling, his forces were able to surprise and defeat the enemy. This victory fanned the revolution's fading embers. Weather continued to play an important role in America's Revolutionary War.
• DUNKIRK. In June 1940, 400,000 British and French soldiers were trapped on the north coast of France at Dunkirk. The Nazi forces were only ten miles away and could have cornered Allied troops. However, at this time thick fog and clouds settled over the beaches.
The English Channel also became unusually calm, and many small boats from England were able to ferry soldiers across to safety. The protective weather pattern lasted nine days while the men were evacuated. The Allied army was thus preserved to fight another day. Winston Churchill called the evacuation of Dunkirk a “miracle of deliverance.”
• SPANISH ARMADA. Four centuries ago, Philip II of Spain set out to rule the world. His goal was to reunite all of Christianity under the Catholic faith, and also under Spanish control. Philip was a heartless leader who had earlier supported the harsh measures of the Spanish Inquisition. He did not get along well with either Britain or Holland. When the Netherlands declared their independence from Spain in 1588, Philip sailed north with an “invincible” Armada of 130 warships and 30,000 men.
Then, while far from home, bad weather hit the fleet. With no port available the ships were forced to anchor at sea. The smaller British fleet under Sir Francis Drake than harassed the Spanish by releasing flaming “tar ships” among the anchored fleet. The Spanish Armada fled north through the English Channel and around the coast of Scotland, where continued fierce storms pushed the fleet onto the rocky shores. As the history books used to say, “God blew and they were scattered.” Only half of the original Spanish fleet finally limped back home. The great Spanish sea power had been diminished by th
e weather, instead of by war. Perhaps a worldwide dictatorship was averted by this defeat of the Spanish Armada.