The Darkest Hour

It is June 4, 1940. A dark cloud has fallen over Europe as Hitler’s forces descend on the free world with a fury and speed never seen before in the history of warfare. The 330,000 men of the British Expeditionary Force, along with a small contingent of remaining French forces, fight valiantly from their foothold at the coastal town of Dunkirk. They cling to their tiny beachhead, desperately trying to hold onto their position between the English Channel and the Panzer divisions under the command of General Heinz Guderian intent on driving them into the sea.

As the German Luftwaffe rains down fiery death from above, the British High Command debates their next move. It is estimated that the British navy does not have enough ships to evacuate the men before Dunkirk falls which will result in the entire army being destroyed or captured.

Back in London, a large contingent of Parliament, led by Lord Halifax and several key members of the Prime Minister’s War Cabinet, pressure Winston Churchill to surrender their trapped forces and sue for peace with the victorious Hitler before the British soldiers at Dunkirk are decimated. Churchill knows that if his forces at Dunkirk are lost, it will leave Britain wide open for a Nazi invasion.

America, his only hope, refuses to get involved in the war as Congress has passed strict guidelines handcuffing President Roosevelt in his efforts to help Britain in a vain effort to stay out of the war at all cost.

Churchill stands alone, one man whose decision will determine the fate of his people and the entire western world. Should he trade the freedom of the British people for slavery to the Nazis to save their lives, or continue to fight tyranny and risk losing everything?

In the HBO movie, the Darkest Hour, there is a scene where Churchill boards a subway train by himself and has a conversation with the ordinary citizens on the subway car. He asks their opinion on whether Britain should sue for peace and accept an unknown fate under the Nazis or continue to fight and risk losing the country. Every man and woman passionately expresses their desire to fight to the bitter end, dying as free and proud British citizens rather than preserve their lives by becoming a slave to evil.

Bolstered by the backing of his people, Churchill marches back to the halls of Parliament at Westminster and instead of giving the planned speech of concession, he gives one of the most important and rousing speeches of all time. His famous words ring out to the world like a beacon of hope visible on the horizon in a sea of despair: “We shall never surrender!”. 

 “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender! “

Winston Churchill

In the meantime, hundreds of small privately-owned vessels sail across the Channel to evacuate the British army before they are destroyed or captured, giving hope to the British people that they can defend their island from the impending invasion sure to come soon.

The actions of Churchill brings to mind another story in history recounted in Exodus 14. Moses and the Israelites are trapped between the Red Sea and the approaching Egyptian army. Moses also had a decision to make. Face certain death by fighting against the overwhelming power of Pharoah’s army, surrender and return to Egypt as slaves, or die by drowning in the Red Sea. 

Many of the Israelites wanted to return to their previous life of slavery and even admonished Moses for leading them into the desert and what appeared to be certain death. Scripture tells us, “They said to Moses, ‘Was it because there were not graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt , ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”(Exodus 14 10-12).

Like Churchill, Moses had a decision to make. Would he trust God and His promise of deliverance or would he turn his people back to the slavery under the Egyptians to save their lives?  In his darkest hour, Moses stood firm in his faith in the face of overwhelming odds and told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14: 13-14).

Of course, because of Moses’ faith in the promises of God, the Red Sea was parted creating a way out which had not been visible before. The Israelites escaped Pharoah’s army and were ultimately rewarded with the land promised to Abraham and Isaac by God centuries earlier. 

 “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still”

EXODUS 14:14

Sometimes, in our own darkest hour, in the midst of life’s struggles, it can appear that there is no way forward. It is easy to lose hope in these situations as the obstacles seem insurmountable. Like the Israelites caught between the army of Pharaoh and the sea, or the British caught between the English Channel and the German army,  we are often tempted to turn back and surrender to that which we are fleeing to find temporary comfort in those things which enslaved us before we were freed by Christ.  

This can include our addictions, behavior patterns, and other worldly idols which in the past have brought us momentary relief even though they enslaved us in the long run. However, we must remember that the same God that parted the Red Sea and led us through the toughest times of our lives in our own past is the same God who lives inside of us today. What he did for us yesterday, he can and will do for us again today. We must trust that God will show us a way out of any situation which can only be revealed to us by faith. The Israelites were caught between a death by the sword from Pharaoh’s army and drowning in the Red Sea. However, what they didn’t see was the third way which was God’s perfect rescue plan for them. 

So, when your darkest hours appear, remember the words of Moses to his people: “the Lord will fight for you; you need only be still”. Let your courage be strengthened by your faith in the promises of God and face the enemy with the spirit of Winston Churchill and say to yourself, “I shall never surrender”.  Truly, the moment these great men uttered those famous words, they had already won and so will you.

“ For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

1 JOHN 5: 4-5