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CHRISTIAN LIVING TODAY
God speaks to us through such varied ways.
Certainly, His Word is the primary method. God’s power prevails from page to person to person. Even a small phrase can inspire us, three small words like: I love you. I am sorry. And, if not. But, if not. I still trust. I forgive you. Please forgive me… Words change lives, they uplift or cast down, inspire or belittle.
Below is an inspiring story of the power of three words, based on words originally spoken by the prophet Daniel.
“In early 1940, the British and their allies sent a force of some 350,000 men into the low countries of Europe to stem the tide of German advance into France, Belgium and Holland. Caught in a brilliant pincer movement by the invading German forces the beleaguered British Expeditionary Force was pushed back to the beaches of the small Belgian town of Dunkirk.
To everyone’s surprise the Germans halted their advance to regroup.
As England and the world waited for what appeared to be the sure and certain annihilation of 350,000 men, a three-word message was transmitted from the besieged army at Dunkirk. It read simply, ‘And if not.’
The British people understood the biblical import of the cryptic message. It was a reference to the Old Testament book of Daniel, where Daniel and his friends chose death rather than worship an image of the pagan king, ‘If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up’ (Daniel 3:17-18).
The British Expeditionary Army, surrounded, cutoff and on the brink of destruction was declaring to Britain and to the world that even in apparent defeat they were, in fact, victorious.
The message… galvanized the British people. In a matter of hours thousands of boats of every description headed across the dangerous waters of the English Channel and, at the risk of their own lives from enemy fire, began the evacuation of the heroic but beleaguered army in what historians now refer to as the Miracle of Dunkirk.”
Feb. 11, 2026 military- quotes.com/forum/ but-if-not-t2911.html Lord, help us to guard our words, may they express our trust and honor You. Until next week, Anita
Onarecker, an Elgin resident, author of “Divine Appointment: Our Journey to the Bridge” and minister to women and adults, earned a Master of Christian Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2007.
