There just are no words…
What could I possibly say about yesterday’s events in New York that could mean anything to anyone other than what has already
been said….
What hasn’t been said is what we are going to do about it. Well it had not been said until last night….
Last night was the first night 7:22 starts back after the summer break. I had been planning on going but as usual I started to put things in the way of going (laundry, unpacking, cleaning apt. etc.) but after what happened yesterday, something just told me that I needed to be there. The fact of the way I have been living my life should have told me I needed to be there but thats another blog
for another day.
When I got there, I had a feeling it was going to be different. A lot of their equipment such as their electric drum set was covered and there was a curtain about mid way of the stage to make it about half the normal size. When the 7:22 band came out, it was all acoustic. Which was awesome, just not the norm. Then after a few songs, Louie came out and began talking about how it would not be business as usual because of what had happened that day.
He talked about what had happened and that people might have come wanting to know what to do. They might have come to 7:22 that night wanting to hear him say something inspiring. He basically said he didn’t know what to say or what to tell us to do.
Then he started talking about King Jahosafat in the old testament. When faced with an overwhelming enemy approaching, his people turned to him for what to do. Jahosafat, realizing the situation, turned his eyes toward God. (Something I had not been doing a lot of lately) which is what we should do.
So a lot of thoughts and questions went through my mind about the events of the day and how to respond in a loving Christian way. It was so easy to say, “make the middle east and whoever is responsible glow in the dark, make them reach the temperature of the sun in a millisecond.” Which I did so many times. God spoke to me last night. He told me that so many things are not known yet. What is fact is that the buildings that were destroyed were “MAN” made. The airplanes were “MAN” made. The Pentagon is “MAN” made. Satan can destroy anything man made. But the land the buildings were on, God made that and it’s still there. You have never heard of a terrorist destroying a mountain. Why because God made mountains and they can’t destroy that. Only acts of God can destroy what God made.
But then it got me to thinking, “Well, God made the people who died?”. God let me know almost instantly that I know nothing about those who perished and their fate. Their entire purpose in life could have been to die in those building for God’s purpose. Every one who died yesterday may or may not have been a Christian. No one but God knows their final destination.
So at this point, I am pretty overwhelmed by God speaking to me. So point blank, I just prayed and asked him, “Ok, how do I respond to someone who I know, that might use this against witnessing. He might ask again, “The person responsible for killing these thousands of people, if he asks for forgiveness and accepts Christ, will he go to heaven also?” God once again let me know
almost right away, He is far more forgiving that we will ever be. So the answer to that is yes.
John 3:16 says “…whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.”
The word except is not there. There aren’t any exceptions given. Hard reality to imagine being in heaven with people like Timothy McVeigh, Osama Ben Laden, and others who might make peace with God and be in heaven, but are their sins any greater than ours? Is one sin greater than another?
The thoughts I have on sin are that sin may be measured differently in our eyes than in God’s eyes. A lie to us, in no way compares to killing thousands of people for political reasons. But who is to say how God thinks that way or what He has planned. I do not know scripture the way I wish I did, but I have read that it is not for us to know the plans of the father. After all, God took a ruthless ruler in Saul and made him Paul, a great man of God. And look at what has come out of the Columbine tragedy. I have read story after story of kids coming to Christ because of people who took a stand for Christ there.
Yesterday was also a reminder that we are not guaranteed the next breath. Imagine someone saying to a family member, “Ok, I give up. I’ll go to church with you on Sunday morning. Yesterday was Tuesday. Imagine that same person sitting at his desk on the 110 floor of Tower One. That person would never see Sunday morning.
So last night was pretty much an eye opener for me. I have not been living the way I should. I haven’t been acting, talking or being the witness for God that I should have. I haven’t been the example for others that I should have. But I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that He has forgiven me of this and that life will go on. Not because of anything that I say or do, but because He is in
control.
KWHITE75 