2001-09-17 - 4:06 p.m. - My thoughts on 9/11/01

This has been weighing heavy on my mind the last several days. I feel the need to express it. If you have not done so, go read my previous post.

Tuesday’s terrible tragedy, horrific as it is, is not an isolated incident. There will be many more terrors and worse plagues visited on this earth, before there will be the eternal peace we all long for. God has promised to judge this wicked earth for all the pain and sin it has participated in. The Bible speaks clearly, in Daniel, Revelation & others, of persecution, fire from the sky, great cities being wiped out, and evil reigning over the earth.

While we pray for all the victims and families that have been affected by Tuesday’s events, we must realize that the day is coming, maybe soon, maybe centuries away, when horrors of that kind are commonplace. We must be ready, as Christians, to face the evil that will reign. We must be prepared to face the adversity that will confront us.

Many times, God used Israel’s evil neighbors to punish and discipline Israel and bring them back to a dependence on Him. In fact, it was the persecution of the early Christian Church by the Romans, which is credited with the spread of the Gospel across the globe. Had the Christians not had to flee for their lives, they would not have traveled so far, and shown such a great witness to their unbelieving neighbors. Further, the persecution of the Puritans was what drove them to make the perilous voyage across the Atlantic waters to the America’s. Their religious faith and fervor was the foundation for our laws, society and nation.

There are many in the church that believe the Christians won’t have to suffer through that judgment. I’m not so sure. God has promised to keep us sealed in His hand, but he did not promise a life free of persecution and pain. On the contrary, Jesus said on numerous times that our lives would be filled with great trial and tribulation, but He also said that He would be with us always, through all times. To believe that we will somehow be exempt from the judgment and that The Tribulation will go by with out us is unwise. Many times, God has shown His just, righteous side to the world by allowing the pain and plagues to come against his chosen people. Most of the time, it was done in an attempt to turn people’s hearts back to Him. The 20th & 21st Century church has taught mostly the God of Love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, grace & forgiveness. While that is certainly a part of God I am grateful for, make no mistake. God is as multi-faceted a being as any of the humans he created. He also can become angry, jealous, and impatient with our continued stiff-necked pride.

I don’t know why the thousands of people died last week. I don’t know if this was truly a judgment against “Babylon”, as my father said in the previous post, but I do know that God was there, in the midst of all the suffering and pain. His plan will be worked out and fulfilled in the anger and rage most of us naturally feel. This could spark a national revival that will precede the 2nd Coming, or it could just further His work by our Christian example of turning back to Him, and throwing off the gods of this world.

I leave you with this, regardless of the Biblical implications, no amount of military might by America, or diplomacy by President Bush can keep us safe. “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.” – Psalm 118:8

Until next time…