What Does Tragedy Teach Us? - Part 1
“I form the light and create darkness, I
make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord,
do all these things.’” - Isaiah 45:7
“For
He does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.” – Lamentations 3:33
“And
we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those
who are the called according to His purpose” – Romans 8:28
What has changed
since that fateful day on September 11th, 2001? A lot. We have less
privacy, more government intrusions, and less freedom. We are moving at breakneck
speed toward a technocracy managed by facial recognition, chips, and Artificial
Intelligence. We are being ushered into a “Great Reset” where you will own nothing
and be happy about it. Our lands are being bought up. Farmers are paid to not
produce. Resources are being strangled. Globalism is on the rise. Nation
states are waning. The words of Winston Churchill echoed by Rahm Emanuel have
come true, “never let a good crisis go to waste.” Certainly powerbrokers and
political soldiers have seized what they believe was an opportunity and used it
to implement their offensive strategies. And they have learned to do the same
with other crises since the original 9/11.
If we believe Bible
prophecy, then what has happened is more understandable. We may not like it,
but we understand it. There will be a global system of global government in the
Last Days (Revelation 13). But that doesn’t mean we should throw our hands up
in surrender. Our job as followers of Jesus is to witness to the truth like Jesus
did (e.g. John 18:37; Romans 8:29; 1 Peter 2:21; 1 John 2:6). We are called to
resist the darkness and expose it (Ephesians 5:11). The true Church, filled,
guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit, is to serve God as a restraining force
against the darkness (2 Thessalonians 2:7). At the heart of all we do should be
the powerful gospel of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:16). We serve God by promoting His
good and truth in the sovereign nation He has placed us.
The darkness is intensifying.
But God is able to bring good even from such evil. Some are awakening. There is
rising a sense of wrongness and that “enough is enough.” We’ve seen this
reflected in elections. Despite a “mainstream media” that for the most part
supports all things unholy, there seems to be an awakening, a wave of
resistance that is rising up. I pray it is led by God. I pray it continues and
grows. I pray it begins on our knees and ends in praise of God. We will
see.
As the years since
9/11/01 pass by, what can we learn? The Christian can glean good from all of
this by taking a Biblical perspective. The events we see unfolding before us
are a part of a historical maneuvering into position for God’s prophetic plan.
One day the entire world will come to bow before Jesus. Then all will understand
truly that No Jesus; No Peace – Know
Jesus Know Peace. For many that awareness will come too late. They will
come to know Jesus as Lord much the same as the demons do, as the Judge who
will enforce their eternal damnable destiny (James 2:19). I pray they heed
God’s gracious gospel offer and are saved from such a fate before it’s too late.
This date of the
year always brings a sadness to my heart. It’s a date that brings a sadness to
many people, to our nation, to the world. I still find myself fighting back the
tears. I still remember the shock of seeing the Towers collapse and imagining the
cries of those inside as the building came down. They still echo in my ears and
in my heart. I still feel the anger as many in the Middle East and elsewhere
danced in the streets because they felt finally America had got her
comeuppance. I still remember the effects of evil. No politicking will ever erase
that memory. There’s a lot I remember.
I still remember ministering
in downtown Manhattan just days after the attack. I still remember the
makeshift memorials in the City made with candles and surrounded with the
photos of lost loved ones. I remember the melted wax of those candles. I still
remember firemen’s funerals. I remember policemen’s, EMT, and Port Authority
police funerals. I remember a lot of funerals. I remember giant flags draped
over roadways for the funerals of the lost in our Long Island suburbs. I
remember the days and months afterward of smoldering, incessant billowing
smoldering smoke from Ground Zero. I remember going to my treasured prayer
place on the southern shore beach of Long Island. It was some fifty miles away
on the beach, and still I was able to see that sad, sad, smoldering.
I also remember
sitting down and prayerfully asking the Lord to help me make sense of it all. Lord, give me a message to send out that
will help the people who are hurting so badly. Lord give me a word; help me to
apply Your word to this terrible event. The Lord did give me a teaching to
send out. And I’m returning to it on the anniversary week of this fateful day. I
pray it helps us all ask and answer the question What Does Tragedy Teach Us?
Years ago, I was
moved by God to introduce the first What
Does Tragedy Teach Us? with the words:
On
September 11th, 2001, the World Trade Center was destroyed with most
of its occupants, by two hijacked jetliners (and their occupants), which cut
through the concrete and steel of those buildings like a flaming arrow shot at the
heart of this nation. The terrorist plane hijackings (4) and attack at the
But what can we learn from this tragedy?
What does tragedy teach us? Well, besides the obvious need for greater national
security, . . . there are personal lessons to be learned along with lessons for
our nation.
What
follows is what the Lord impressed upon me to answer those questions along with
some updates since the message was first delivered.
First, God Allowed This to Happen
– He Is in Control
We might be
tempted to think that life is out of control when such tragedies hit us. But
this is not true. God is in control.
But if God is in control, wouldn’t He have stopped such a tragedy and loss of
life? We might find this difficult to accept, but God allowed the attack and
tragedy that happened at the
- Isaiah 45:5-7 – “I am the Lord, and there is no
other; There is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though
you have not known Me,6 That they may know from the rising of the sun to
its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no
other;7 I form the light and create darkness, I
make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord,
do all these things.’”
God is sovereign
even in times of tragedy. We should remember, for instance, that Satan was not
allowed to bring trials into Job’s life until he had secured permission from
God to do so (Job 1-2). What happens, happens, because God allows it to happen.
But why would God allow tragedy? The answer to that question is multifaceted.
Second, God Hates Tragedy and
Calamity
The Bible tells us
that though God allows tragedy to happen, He hates it:
- Lamentations 3:31-33 – “For the Lord
will not cast off forever.32 Though He causes grief, Yet He will show
compassion According to the multitude of His mercies.33 For He does not
afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.”
God takes no
pleasure in allowing tragedy to occur. In fact, no One grieves over the pain
and suffering caused by sin as much as God does. Sin is not bad because God
forbids it. God forbids sin because it is bad. And sin is bad. It victimizes
people. Sin destroys relationships. Sin separates us first from God (Isaiah 59:1-2)
and then from each other. Sin pollutes our mind making us think incorrectly.
Sin blinds us, binds us and grinds us down. Sin addicts us to self and that
causes us to devalue others and break relational bonds. Sin in extreme destroys
relationships by literally destroying people. It can do this through such acts
as careless manslaughter, homicide and genocide. God hates sin. He knows that
those with sin in them, those overtaken with sin, are capable of horrifically
heartless sinful acts, like 9/11.
But why does God,
if He is Almighty, allow such tragedy to happen? Why doesn’t He just step in
and stop it all? Sometimes God does step in and prevent evil. The problem is
that humanity takes such intervention for granted. Complacency leads to neglect
of God and relating to Him. And the further we are from God, the less sensitive
and resistant to sin we become. And when sin becomes no big deal to us, we
indulge it, we practice it, we even get to a point where we promote it. Sin harms
and hurts, it causes sorrow and death. Sin destroys. God is eternally opposed
to sin. Therefore, if need be, He is willing to take drastic measures to deal with
it. Those drastic measures sometimes include tragedy.
God chooses to hold
back and permit this fallen world to continue in its fallen sinful state
because He loves us. What? That sounds absurd. But it isn’t. God desires none
to perish but all to come to repentance and a saving state of salvation in His
Son Jesus Christ (e.g. 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9). Its true that the further
we are from God, the easier it is for us to sin. But the alternative is also
true. The closer we come to God, the clearer we see our sin and the truth about
it and the reason we should resist it. And the closer we come to God, the more
power we have to resist and fight against sin. “Draw near to God and He will
draw near to you” (James 4:8). “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and
he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
But there’s another
reason why God puts up with the present fallen tragic state of His creation. Sin
separates us from God. God wants us close to Him for an eternity. In order for
that to happen, in order to provide more time for more people to be saved from
their sin, He waits. God allows things to continue in their fallen state to
give people more time to turn from their sin to Him. He is willing to do that even
if it risks the pains and turmoil caused by sin. God waits. All the while He is
beckoning to the lost and seeking to draw them to Himself (John 6:44). He has a
time set when He will finally intervene. But He is waiting for people, more and
more people to come to eternal life through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
Don’t blame God for
9/11 or tragedy in general. This is a human made problem (cf. Genesis 3). God
is not a sadist or tyrant who has a lust for power and indiscriminately shows
it. God is not capricious. He has purpose in that which He does and in what He
allows to happen. He is waiting for more people to turn to Him through faith in
Jesus so that they can be forgiven their sins and spend eternity with Him. Dealing with disease can be painful. Sin in
this world is at epidemic proportions. We need spiritual surgery. We need to go
to God for healing.
Third, God Allows Tragedy to Get
Our Attention, To Get Us to Search Our Ways
Sometimes a people
become so hardened toward God that they need to be shaken to be awakened from
their spiritual sleep. The psalmist tells us that God does orchestrate hardship
at times with an aim to bring us to Himself:
- Psalm 66:10-12 – “For You, O God,
have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined.11 You brought us
into the net; You laid affliction on our backs.12 You have caused men to
ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water; But You
brought us out to rich fulfillment.” (See also James 1:2f.)
God tested
God uses trials
to get our attention. Tribulation wakes us up. We see an example of this on a
national scale in the history of Israel. The book of Lamentations is a
funeral-like dirge inspired by God through the prophet Jeremiah. In chapter one
of Lamentations God through Jeremiah points out that her captivity and
affliction is the result of her persistent sinfulness:
- Lamentations 1:5, 8, 9 – “Her
adversaries have become the master, her enemies prosper; For the Lord has afflicted her Because of
the multitude of her transgressions. Her children have gone into captivity
before the enemy. . . 8 Jerusalem has sinned gravely, therefore she has
become vile. All who honored her despise her Because they have seen her
nakedness; Yes, she sighs and turns away. . . .9 Her uncleanness is
in her skirts; She did not consider her destiny; therefore her collapse
was awesome; She had no comforter. “O Lord,
behold my affliction, For the enemy is exalted!”
While tragedy is
not always the result of personal sin, it always serves to wake people up. There are objective planetary sins that take
the form of natural disaster and disease. Sin causes creation to groan (Romans
8:22). There are personal sins of our choosing that have consequences. Whatever
type of sin, planetary or personal, the cause of our pain and suffering, our tragedy,
it usually serves to wake us up.
So what will you do
in response to this tragic memory? I encourage you to consider getting right with
God. Do that and you will see the good God can bring out of even that dark 9/11
day.
Are You Going to Heaven?
The Bible states you can know for sure
whether or not you are going to heaven?
·
1 John 5:13 – “These things I have
written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know
that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the
name of the Son of God.”
How can you know for sure?
Realize eternal life involves personally knowing God -
·
John 17:3
– “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
Realize sin separates people from Holy God
–
- Psalm
66:18 – “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear”
- Isaiah
59:2 – “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and
your sins have hidden His face from you”
- Habakkuk
1:13 – “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on
wickedness”
Realize you are a sinner –
·
Exodus 20:1-17 – Examine and assess yourself by the Ten Commandments
·
2 Corinthians 13:5 – “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test
yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?”
·
Romans 3:10 – “As it is written: ‘There
is none righteous, no, not one”
·
Romans 3:23 – “for all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God”
·
Galatians 3:10 – “For as many as are of
the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone
who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law,
to do them.”
·
James 2:10 – “For whoever shall keep the
whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.”
Realize there is a penalty for sin –
·
Romans 6:23a – “For the wages of sin is
death,”
Realize you need to be saved from your sins –
·
Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is
death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
·
Ephesians 2:8–9 - For by grace you have
been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of
God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
·
Titus 3:5 - 5 not by
works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved
us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
Realize Jesus paid the penalty for you –
·
Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates His own
love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
·
2 Corinthians 5:21 – “For He made Him who
knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of
God in Him.”
Realize your salvation is a free gift from God that requires only a
repentant heart faith decision from you to receive it – To “repent” means to confess to God and
forsake your sin. To “believe” or have “faith” unto salvation means Forsaking
All (others or other means of salvation) I Trust Him.
·
Acts 3:19-20 – “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so
that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He
may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you”
·
Acts 16:31 – “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved”
·
John 1:12 – “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to
become children of God, to those who believe in His name”
Realize salvation is a matter of the heart
–
- Acts
8:36–38 - Now as they went down the road, they came to some water.
And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from
being baptized?” 37 Then Philip said, “If you believe
with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” 38 So he commanded the chariot
to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water,
and he baptized him.
·
Romans 10:10 – “For with the heart one
believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation.”
Realize now is the time to call on God to be saved from your
sins –
·
Romans 10:13 - For “whoever calls
on the name of the Lord shall be
saved.”
·
2 Corinthians 6:2 – “Behold, now is the
accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
A SALVATION PRAYER:
If you believe the above Gospel and are
willing to trust in Jesus with all your heart as Savior, if you want the
forgiveness of sins and eternal life God in this Gospel freely offers to you,
with all your heart, pray this prayer:
“Dear God, I
have sinned and disobeyed Your Laws. I
admit I deserve eternal punishment. But I repent; I confess my sins to You and
forsake them. I ask that You please forgive me, not because of any good works I
have done, but because I believe Jesus paid the just penalty for my sins by
dying for me on the cross. I believe He rose from the dead. I believe that with
all my heart. I receive it by faith, as a gift of Your grace. Help me to live
for You. Please Holy Spirit fill me,
give me spiritual life, eternal life. Please help me to know you Father, Son Jesus
Christ, and Holy Spirit. Help me grow in a relationship with You. In Jesus’
name. Amen.”
Now, begin praying
and reading your Bible daily, regularly. Find a church that believes in and
teaches the Bible as the word of God. Find a church where the Gospel is preached
and people believe in being born again. Find such a church and become a part of
your new eternal family. And tell someone else about what God has done for you.
Don’t go by feelings, live by faith in Jesus. He is faithful. He will help you.
Remember this:
2 Corinthians
5:17 - 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he
is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have
become new.
1 Corinthians
10:13 - 13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as
is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be
tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the
way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
2 Timothy 2:15
- 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker
who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy
3:16–17 - 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be
complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
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