10/20/2025
The Unknown Tomorrow
At 40 years of age, John Adams lay deathly sick of a fever, far away from his family, and in Holland. His illness would last nearly six weeks.
This ardent Revolutionary Patriot, had helped to draft the Declaration of Independence five years before, and now in Europe, he had been removed from his family for nearly a year.
His political task was to raise money and to secure recognition of the United States with the Dutch government.
In that early fall of 1781, sick, and unsuccessful, he wrote to Congress asking to be recalled, stating that his mission was “useless.”
What Mr. Adams didn’t know, was that right at that moment, the Revolutionary War, which had gone badly for the Americans, was changing. On Friday, October 19, 1781 (244 years ago), British General Cornwallis surrendered his 7,000 troops to General George Washington.
John Adams had long pressed the French for a strong naval presence in America. At exactly the right time and place, Admiral de Grasse arrived with a French fleet of 28 large warships which stopped Cornwallis’ escape. However, the good news did not arrive across the Atlantic Ocean for a month.
Even during Mr. Adam’s discouragement, all was going forth as God ordained it. In a matter of weeks John Adam’s mission also became a success. In the following year he served with the American delegation that drafted and signed the Treaty of Paris, ending the Revolutionary War. (McCullough, David. John Adams. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001 [p. 271]).
God had everything going forward in His plan. The Bible illustrates this in another way in the life of Daniel as he waited for God to answer.
We have only to trust the Lord, follow Him, or if He so chooses, simply wait.
