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I wrote the following article 10 years ago seeking God's heart during the loss of so many lives on September 11, 2001.
How can we make sense out of September 11, 2001? There have been many explanations offered about God's purpose for this tragedy. I have asked God, "Is grace still the great good news? Is a ministry of grace practical in this tragedy?"
I believe 2 Timothy 2:1 is God's answer to me: You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is IN Christ Jesus.
We can be tempted to have a distorted view of God through this tragedy instead of seeing Him through Christ. Christ is our only hope. Being IN Christ is the safest place in the world to be! Any explanation of this tragedy apart from Christ is hopeless.
TRUTH THROUGH BILLY GRAHAM
On September 14, 2001, Billy Graham reminded us of the source of true hope. "Here in this majestic National Cathedral we see all around us symbols of the cross. The cross tells us that God understands our sin and suffering, for He took upon Himself in the Person of Jesus Christ our sins and suffering. And from the cross, God declares, I love you."
Mr. Graham continued, "The story does not end with the cross, for Easter points us beyond the tragedy of the cross to the empty tomb. It tells us that there is hope for eternal life."
In the Foreword of Stephen Olford's book Not I but Christ, Billy Graham notes: "The cross of Christ is the foundation for our lives...for God's plan was that, through the cross, our old nature would be crucified, and the power of the Holy Spirit (Christ's life) would be unleashed to change our hearts and lives."
HOPE THROUGH THE CROSS
This message of the cross is the basis for ministering true hope to others. I don't understand much about the Why of this tragedy, but this I do know: God is love, and He makes a person brand new in order to give him or her the life of His Son. And His Son's life is sufficient for any situation!
During this national distress, we will be tempted to do something to appease God's wrath and to reclaim His favor. However, the truth is that Jesus has already borne all of the Father's contempt for sin and all of His judgment on the cross...for us!
God accepts each of us based on His amazing grace through what Christ has done, not based on anything what we can do.
This national tragedy is another opportunity for us to be nurtured by Christ who indwells us, and to be enabled by Christ to share His message of grace and true hope with others.
CLOSING
10 years later, this is still God's answer to me. We've not only been entrusted with the greatest story ever told, we've been entrusted with the greatest life (and only true life) ever lived -- Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27)!
We don't need to strive to have pat answers for this, or any, tragedy...but we do have Christ who we can entrust with the answer, and whose hope we can minister to others!
God bless you!
 
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