As the United States of America turns 250 this year, it seems many people do not understand just how unique America is in all human history, how brilliant the founders were, and therefore how important she is to the world.
How unique? As a constitutional republic with individual freedoms that come from God and not from government, America stands alone in all of human history! Did you catch that? Many people today do not understand how amazing that is. The United States of America is the only nation ever to have a Constitution that establishes a representative government (with separation of powers, checks and balances, and limits on majority rule to protect minority and individual rights) AND individual freedoms that are God-given, for every single person, and can’t be removed by government (unalienable). No other country – ever – matches this combination, making America unique and a nation that raised the bar for the whole world for that one word: freedom.
Freedom – the right to freedom or liberty comes from God! That one concept in the Declaration of Independence that clearly separated us from the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1776 with two sentences: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
As a constitutional republic, with God-given freedoms that we can not be alienated from, we are very unique in the world, and our very first official document tells the main goal of the people who were led by God to first come here. It reads: In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Soveriegn Lord King James, by the Grace of God… Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presonce of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick…
This doesn’t just make America unique, this is what makes America exceptional. Marissa Streit, CEO of PragerU, says “You’ll find in these pages a tapestry of what makes this nation exceptional…” in their America 250 magazine issue.
Dennis Prager, co-founder and President says, “America is the ony country founded not on a race, ethnicity, or nationality, but on an idea: limited government – because the founders of America believed, first and foremost, in liberty”.
And America is also unique, because it’s origins were miraculously guided and miraculously achieved by God. Scott Turner, Secretary of U.S. Housing and Urban Development, recounting his amazing journey from a ten year old with a promise to his mother, to an NFL player, to a leader in the Federal government, said similar at the National Day of Prayer 2026 ceremony. “God’s hand established my steps, and He was present throughout my entire life – just as He is now,” Turner said. “And I know that that same providence has watched over the United States of America, for the past 250 years. Look at how many storms God has led us through: a war of independence we won against all odds, a destructive civil war, the great depression, two world wars, a decade’s long cold war against communism, and more. We survived and thrived despite all these trials because of the grace of our sovereign God, and the same sovereign God that the founding fathers believed in.”
George Washington said, in his first inaugural address, “no people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinquishged by some token of providential agency.”
At the Rededication to God Ceremony of the United States on May 17th, 2026, Eric Metaxas in his speech reminded us that 250 yrs prior, George Washing was facing the British army on that very day, and didn’t know where the British would strike, so he split his army between Manhattan and Brooklyn. End of August the British struck, and routed the American troops. Washington and his troops faced certain annihilation, he said, and the cause of liberty was about to be wiped out. Washington ordered a desperate retreat across the east river hour after hour in small boats all night, but as dawn approached thousands of men hadn’t crossed. At first light the British we see them and destroy them. But then God, just as the sun was rising, a strange and impenetrable fog settled over the British and American lines. The escaping Americans were as invisible as if it were still night. For 3 hrs the fog held and allowed every American to cross over the river and to safety. Just when the final American arrived safely in Manhattan, the fog lifted.
In the months that followed, Washington’s army continued retreating through New Jersey towards the Delaware river dwindling in size, with food and clothing were in short supply, and very cold temperatures. On December 31st, many elisted men of the remaining 3000 exhausted men would go home at the first of the new year, so Washington wanted a bold stroke to somehow keep hope alive. So Christmas night, his entire army rowed across the Delaware river, two of the forces he hoped to merge with never made it across the river, and the ice slowed down the crossing so much so that there was no surprise, and surprise was everything. So they marched 9 miles through the sleet and the snow storm, to Trenton. Two men froze to death. At 9am Washington gave the order and they attacked. But because of the snow storm, the British brigade of Hessian soldiers were indeed surprised, and Washington took 900 prisoners that day and not a single American life was lost in the battle. God intervened with another miracle, and the sacred cause endured. Trusting the Lord was the only way forward for America. As America trusts God, God blesses and has continued blessing America.
Mike Johnson also reminded Dr Frank Turek, during a tour, the average age of a constitution is 14 yrs. With America now at 250 years, I think we can see how blessed we are. Blessed is the nation who’s God is the Lord. (Psalm 33:12)
And these founders, Glenn Beck writes, “by signing their names to the Declaration of Independence, they were signing their own death warrants.” Jefferson wrote more than half a page condemning the king for upholding and promoting the transatlantic slave trade. He mocked the monarch for calling himself a “Christian King” while maintaining a market for enslaved human beings.
During the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklyn told Washington, “I have lived a long time, and the longer I live the more convincing proof I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men.
Speaker Mike Johnson, also on the 75th anniversary of our national day of prayer, said this National Day of Prayer was established by congress at the height of the cold war. It reaffirms we are a praying nation. Prayer is how the impossible happens.
Speaker Johnson mentioned that in the U.S. congressional chapel is a stained glass picture of George Washington humbled and down on one knee praying. The words surrounding him are from psalm 16:1 – Preserve me Oh God, for in thee do I put my trust. That’s a restatement of our national motto – In God we trust.
The current house chamber – also during the cold war – Congress decided to engrave permanently the National Motto right above the speaker of the House, as a permanent reminder. In the visitor’s guide to the House Chamber, around pg 21, it says congress put that there as a rebuke to the Soviets because of their philosophy. Communism, Marxism, Socialism begin with the premise that there is no God. And Congress wanted to make sure that all future generations understood that is not who we are.
With the liberty that the Constitutional Republic with God-given rights created, the greatest freedom to preach the gospel was also created.
So on this 250th birthday, let us remember, or learn for the first time, and teach our children and their children, of the uniqueness and importance of America in the world.
Happy 250th birthday America – and may God bless her, and she trusts in God!
