Remembering 9/12

Remembering 9/12 (No this is not one of my typos)

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Psalm 46:1-2

Have we returned to the 9/10 mentality? Do you think maybe God wants us to go back to 9/12.

Yesterday was 9/11, and today is 9/12. This weekend we remembered 9/11 for the 9th time, as we should. But have we returned to the 9/10 mentality? Have you ever thought that maybe God wants us to remember 9/12, and how we woke up different on that day. Maybe He wants us to go back to 9/12?

Some events in human history impact us so greatly that we will forever have engraved in our minds where we were and what we were doing when we heard the news. I’ll never forget that I was a high school senior sitting in study hall when President Kennedy was assassinated. I was watching the Today show when the 1st tower was hit. Where were you?

Every time we watch that footage we relive it. How many can feel it the same right now as we did that day? We said, "Never forget," and most of us never have. But it seems that America at large has forgotten. We need to go back to 9/12...but instead, we’re back to 9/10 in our thinking. How can we avoid another 9/11 that may be looming?

Today let’s ask and attempt to answer some questions that no doubt have puzzled so many since that horrific day 9 years ago: How could this happen on our own soil? Where were we on 9/11 and where was God on 9/11, and where were we on 9/12 and where are we today?

“Where was God on 9-11?”…

1. The same place He was when Adam rebelled in Eden – He was waiting to cover his sin. (Gen 3) Where was God when man first raised his ugly head of defiance and rebellion? Couldn’t He have stopped it before it began? Oh, it is not a matter of whether or not He could have. But He designed us with a freedom of choice. When Adam and Eve finally “fessed-up”, He was there with a covering for their nakedness and shame; exacting the ultimate punishment on an innocent victim, His son, to cover man’s sin. But, He was there!

“Where was God on 9-11?” …

2. The same place He was when Noah built an ark – protecting him from disaster. Sadly, man’s rebellion did not end with Adam and Eve. Their sons, and their son’s sons for every generation followed in their rebellious path. Until such time that the wickedness of man filled the whole earth. Yet in the midst of such ungodliness, “…Noah found favor with the LORD.” (Gen 6:8). Here was a man, not a perfect, but a righteous man, who faithfully proclaimed the righteousness of God. (2 Pet 2) And when God, grieved by man’s wicked rebellion, became determined to wipe man from the face of the earth, He decided to spare Noah and his family, and from them re-populate the earth. So in mankind’s greatest natural disaster, God was on His throne protecting His own.

“Where was God on 9-11?” …

3. The same place He was when Job lost everything he had (except his nagging wife) – proving Himself to be God despite unfortunate circumstances. (Job 1-2) Just as Noah’s generation experienced earth’s greatest natural disaster, Job would surely rank among the top in man’s history as experiencing the greatest personal disaster. Again we see a man, a good man, a godly man standing for what is right and hating what is wrong. Did being “blameless and upright” immune Job from problems, or even disaster? Of course not! He became the special target of Satan’s fury. As a result, Job lost everything of value; even his precious children. Where was God? Had He turned His back on Job? Would Job return the favor by turning his back on God? No! No! and NO! God had not deserted Job. And Job would not curse God, even though he was urged to do so by a less than faithful wife.

Where was God when Job was losing all? Where was He when Job’s children were killed? Where was He when Job’s flesh was wracked with pain? Job maintained his integrity and recognized that it was God’s prerogative to give and take, and it was his duty to “Bless the name of the Lord.” And in the end God was there giving him double of all he had lost!

“Where was God on 9-11?” …

4. The same place He was when Joseph was rotting in jail – accomplishing His perfect will. (Gen 37-50) If ever anyone was misunderstood and ill treated, it was Joseph. If ever anyone suffered wrongly, it was Joseph. Yet with all his hardships, problems and abuse, Joseph was able to honestly say, “You meant it for harm, but God meant it for good.” This was certainly true in the case of his brothers selling him into slavery, Mrs. Potiphar falsely accusing him of attempted rape, and the lapse of memory of his Butler friend. Yet each step of the way, God was able to take Joseph’s trying circumstance and mold him ever more closely into the man he would one day become. He was there all the time, but even Joseph must have wondered at times where God was during this time.

“Where was God on 9-11?” … We could go on and on and tell of the experiences people such as Moses, Samson, Jonah, Daniel. Peter, John, Paul, James …..

But maybe the greatest insight into the heart of God when a tragedy strikes such as the 9-11 Disaster is to respond in this way to the question…

“Where was God on 9-11?”

12. The same place He was when Jesus hung on the Cross – enduring the pain for the benefit of others. (Matt 27)

Not just the thorns on His brow. Not just the lashes on His back. Not just the bruises from the reeds and fists of his captors. Not just the plucking of the beard from His face. Not just the spit being hurled at Him. Not just the nails in His hands and feet. Not just the spear piercing His side. All this, yes; plus the weight of the sins of the world pressing down on His shoulders.

Where was God when His one and only Son hung dying on the cross? Didn’t He know? Couldn’t He have prevented it; or stopped it? Was He helpless? Was He not aware? Didn’t He care?

Of course He knew! Of course He could have prevented it! Of course He could have stopped it! Of course He wasn’t helpless! Of course He was aware! And, Of course He cared! God knew it was happening, could have stopped it, … but He didn’t.

He had a larger picture in view. There was a greater good to be accomplished by the suffering and death of Jesus. Through the suffering of One, many would be made whole. Through the sacrifice of One, many would have their sins forgiven. Through the death of One, many would be made alive.

He wasn’t just sitting idle and helpless as His Son suffered. He was using the schemes of wicked hearts to bring about the redemption of mankind. He reminds us that … “my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isa 55:8-9)

Please note: Though God was there near His Son while He hanged on the cross, there was a moment when He had to turn His back on Him, because of our sins laid there. Our God is holy, and can’t tolerate sin, but must judge it. Did He turn His back on America on 9/11? If so, was it because of our national sins? Will He turn His back again?

There is a story of Al Braca who when he realized that they weren’t going to make it, shared the gospel with 50 of his co-workers and led them in prayer and many no doubt were saved before they died. Some of those same individuals had in the past mocked him for his faith. On 9/12 many of us changed our tune and became witnesses

On 9/12 we were all Americans, and we had received a wake up call. Have we gone back to sleep? What will it take to rouse us again?

A record number of people were in church on the following Sunday and for a couple more weeks before attendance began to fall back off again.

We must remember 9/11, and remember who we became on 9/12. Let’s don’t go back to 9/10!

As believer’s we need to remember that our feeling of security goes beyond the measures of home land defense, beyond metal detectors, security checks, military power, political alliances or the strength of our economy. Our faith must rest solidly on a relationship with the one and only true and living God. Security is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of God and the confidence and courage He gives in the midst of trouble. God is not just some far off source from whom we can seek advice but this psalm tells us that he is “our refuge and strength.”



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