“But as for me, I trust in you.” (Psalm 55:23b)
God is worthy of everyone’s trust.
Today marks the 19th anniversary of Sept. 11th, 2001. A day that changed our country forever. Since the tragic day, friends and family members gather at the memorials, commemorating the people they lost. If you were alive when the airplanes flew into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and a Pennsylvania field, you remember where and when you heard the news.
On vacation, I was sleeping when the first plane hit. My sister-in-law called, telling me to turn on the T.V. Eyes glued to the news, I watched as the second plane hit the south tower. My corporate office was in New York. Like so many others, I wondered about the people I knew who were there. As the day unfolded, the world felt like it was coming to an end, the events a reminder of life’s fragility. When I laid my head to sleep that night, I realized, the only constant in life is God.
God is the only constant.
When the world is falling apart around you, God isn’t. He didn’t fall apart on Sept. 11, 2001. Books are sold daily with encouraging God stories about that fateful day. Tales of people who “didn’t go to work,” or “because I was running late,” they missed the terrorists attacks. One I recall talked about a man who stopped in the pharmacy to buy bandaids for his daughter. If he hadn’t done that one act, he would have been in his office somewhere in the World Trade Center. Buying her bandaids meant her daddy came home that night. Many people would describe that as God’s intervention.
But what about the people who were on time for work that day? Where was God in their lives?
Death is a part of life. God does not hide that fact from us. God’s word is exact:
“All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:16 NIV)
The day of this writing is the sixth anniversary of my nephew’s death. Why did he die at 20 years old from Type 1 Diabetes? Because it was the day ordained for him by God before he was ever born.
We will all die. None of us knows the day. I don’t like to think of my death; however, that doesn’t stop it from happening. What thinking about my mortality does do is help me keep perspective. When situations in life happen, like 9/11, I realize how precious life is and how each day truly is a gift:
“This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad today!” (Psalm 118:24 NIV)
Jesus overcame death. In Him, you will have life, not only on earth but in heaven as well.
Question of the Day:
Have you put your trust in Jesus?
Further Reading: Isaiah 8-9 NIV, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 NIV, Psalm 55 NIV, Proverbs 23:4-5 NIV
