Have you heard of the Spanish Armada? The "Invincible" Armada it is sometimes called. If you know much about history, you know that calling it that name doomed it to an ignominious defeat sooner or later.
Spain and England had been allies for a good while. It seemed a good deal for England who had no empire at the time while Spain was spread all over, including large holdings in the New World. They were both leery of France and that's what drew them together in the first place. They made several alliances through marriages, and then the religious problem rose up to bite them both. Soon we see a Catholic Queen Mary and a Protestant Queen Elizabeth and that was the beginning of the end for the alliance. King Philip of Spain put together a massive fleet of huge ships, 130 in number, manned by 30,000 sailors. They headed for England to put things in order, that is, to reestablish Catholicism as the national religion in that country.
The underdog surprised them in the English Channel where they docked at Calais. It wasn't time for the battle to begin in their minds, but surprise can often be an excellent weapon. The Spanish ships may have been large, but the English ships were more maneuverable. They also used long range gunnery rather than close quarters fighting which kept the Spaniards off the English ships and many swimming in the sea. English "fire ships"—old or otherwise repurposed ships that were loaded with combustibles, ignited, and set to drift into the Spanish fleet--scattered them and created confusion. Then, as the Spanish tried to flee up and around the British Isles, storms and strong winds destroyed 24 of them. Because of the turmoil, the Spanish soon began to run out of food, drinking water, and other supplies. Before long, the "Invincible" Armada was defeated.
For anyone who is familiar with their Bibles, this is not an unusual story. We have heard it again and again as the children of Israel watched the Red Sea inundate Pharaoh and his army, in Joshua taking Jericho without a fight, in Jonathan's near single handed defeat of the Philistines, David's defeat of Goliath, and the angel of Jehovah destroying 185,000 Assyrians in one night. We have seen God send a storm to defeat the chariots of King Jabin and send the army captain Sisera running to a woman who feared God. We have seen Elijah praying for God to open the eyes of his servant so he could thousands and thousands of horses and fiery chariots ready to defend them against the enemy. When God leads the army and they trust in Him, they are indeed invincible, and no one can beat them.
Christ has already won the battle for us. He fought Satan by overcoming sin, by dying as a perfect sacrifice, and then by rising from the dead and ascending to his throne. Storms may come but he will still them. With his armor and the Word we can fight against anything Satan throws our way. We will never run short of supplies because he gives us everything we can possibly need to win, in abundance. And we have an innumerable army standing by to help us. All we have to do is believe in him and his victory as we fight our way through life. We are indeed invincible when he is on our side.
But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law: but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1Cor15: 54-57
Dene Ward
Comments