In the late 1700’s, General Napoleon was making war in Europe. Here is a story of faith and trust that happened back then.
The province of Schleswig, on the south shore of the Baltic Sea, was then a part of Denmark. Denmark was friends with Napoleon, and that made the army from Sweden and Russia very mad at them. On the road between Stralsund and the capital city of the province Schleswig, the army was traveling, wrecking villages, and killing people as they went.
In one village, the old widow, Bertha Schmidt, watched in her cottage with her grandson Karl and his bride. They had piled furniture against the door, but that was not much protection against the attack of an angry army. At any moment they expected the cruel soldiers to appear.
It was a blustery, wintry night in January when this wonderful story of faith, trust, and God’s answer to prayer happened. The aged widow sat with her eyes fastened on her Bible. She raised her eyes and, with a bright look, said, “Round us a wall our God shall rear, and our proud foes shall quail with fear!”
“What! Dear mother,” replied Karl. “Is your faith as strong as that? Do you really expect God to build a wall around our poor hut, strong and high enough to keep out an army?”
“Has not my son read,” queried the mother, “that not a sparrow falls to the ground without our Father?”
Karl did not answer, and the family sank again into silence.
Just at midnight there was a lull in the storm. They heard the great clock striking the hour of 12 o’clock. At the same moment, the faint sound of martial music caught their straining ears. The fatal time had come.
In the house, the family drew closer together, and as the aged mother returned the pressure of the grandson’s hand, she again repeated, “Round us a wall our God shall rear, and our proud foes shall quail with fear!”
The music drew near with the confused sounds of tramping and shouting. Soon shrieks and the crackling of flames were heard that told that the destruction was taking place. But no hostile foot came into the widow’s cottage; it stood quiet and unharmed amid the uproar, as if the angels were encamped round about it. At length, the noise ceased; the storm died away, and all was deathly still.
After waiting until morning and wondering at the strange silence, Karl at last opened one of the shutters. Then they understood the strange silence. The snow had piled high around the cottage, completely encircling it with a drift. The snowy wall of white had shut them in, covering the cottage from sight and from danger.
The trusting mother said, “Faithful is He who hath promised: He also hath done it!”
“Thus the cottage was defended
By the wondrous wall of snow,
‘Build, dear Lord, a wall around us,’
Sang the mother, soft and low.”