On the eleventh of September 2001, there was an attack on the US. This attack was orchestrated and carried out by people who are our committed and avowed enemies, and who will stop at nothing to kill Americans, or British, or any people that love and/or defend Israel, or who support a Jewish homeland in what is called “Palestine”.
Have you ever taken the time to look carefully at this attack? Have you seen that God allowed there to be explosions against the two most significant symbols of the place and might of the USA? These are our economy, which has led the world for almost a century, and our military, which is the mightiest in the world. The World Trade Center towers have often been used as a symbol of the economy in Hollywood movies and as a backdrop for news casts when talking about Wall Street or the results of the day’s trading and so forth. In a way, they were a sign that the world centers its economic strength at Wall Street. God allowed this sign to be destroyed, with loss of life and property, but the destruction stopped at that point. In other words, it was limited. God was merciful.
Similarly, there was an attack on the symbol of our military might, the Pentagon. An aircraft that had been commandeered by terrorists crashed into one side of the building, resulting in a good deal of destruction, and the loss of several hundred lives. But it went no further. As a matter of fact, the third attempt was thwarted by some daring and resourceful passengers, and ended up crashing into a field in Pennsylvania.
These three awful things were, I believe, a warning. America appeared to be hearing the warning, but in a few days (or possibly a few weeks) it was business as usual again. I believe that it is a good thing that the country got back to business as usual again, in terms of the activity of everyday life, (that of business, school, and so forth). But there was not much of a change in the attitude of America. There was not much of a questioning that said “Why did this happen to us?”. As soon as the shock was over, in some ways, so was the challenge that came with it.
Notice how so much has now been referenced to “9/11”. It is very commonly said during the course of regular daily activity that this or that has resulted “since 9/11”. It was a point in time that marked a distinct change. I believe that this change, which has been felt in varying degrees, by almost the entire industrialized world, was a clear warning from God. This warning has been indelibly emblazoned on the minds of men and women for a definite reason. God will be able to refer to it as something that could easily be remembered. It is not as if the warning was somehow insignificant, but it was on world wide TV, and seen by…yes…billions of people. The way in which we conduct business, and live life has changed since those events, but the hearts of Americans, at least to this writer, have for the most part, not changed at all.
Enter hurricane Katrina. We saw the levies in New Orleans fail, resulting in as much as twenty feet of water pouring out of Lake Pontchartrain and into that city. Have you seen the aerial photos? Thousands of houses immersed in water above the eaves. All you see from the air is a bit of the roof, none of the walls, but just a bit of the roof, so that you know that a house is there, but that’s about it. Almost an entire large American city has been completely wiped out. There has been some talk about abandoning the city, and I don’t know if that will happen or not, but can you imagine talk of letting an entire city go? That is shocking, and singular in the history of our country. To me, it is indication of something that is more far reaching than the warning. It is devastation. It was not caused by terrorists, but by an act of God, as even the insurance companies call it. I believe it is perfectly appropriate to blame God for this event. He did it, and there may be more on the way. Can we hear? Can we ask the Lord to have mercy on our country? Is it possible that this could be the beginning of at least some form of judgment?
I pray this is not the case, but I fear that it is.
So what is God expecting of all of us who are endeavoring to follow the Lord Jesus Christ? We must humbly apply ourselves to being about the business of the Lord. The important word is humbly. This, above all other elements of Christian character, is the order of the day for all of us at this time.
This includes resisting the temptation of judging ourselves, or our nation in comparison to others. “We are not as bad as …”. That kind of mindset is not allowed by the Lord. Jesus said in the 13th chapter of Luke, that the people who were killed when a certain tower fell on them were NOT worse sinners than others, but they were just regular old sinners, like you, me, or anyone else. Now is the time for humbly beseeching the Lord that he would have mercy on us, and on our country. When Daniel set his mind to pray and seek the Lord, it says that he confessed his sin and the sin of his people. We need to do the same, humbly and honestly, and get together with others to do it.
“Then they that feared the Lord spoke often to one another: and the Lord hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son that serves him.” Mal. 3:16,17. May you be sobered and strengthened by these words.
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