INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHTS 2

On 11 September 2001, terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners in the United States. Two were rammed into the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City and a third into the Pentagon in Washington, DC. Passengers on the fourth plane fought with the hijackers, but it crashed in Pennsylvania with the loss of all on board.

In the most devastating terrorist attack in history, the world's tallest building had been reduced to rubble and some 3000 people blasted or crushed to death. The Times newspaper called it 'The day that changed the modern world' whilst another claimed, 'History will never be the same again' and 'It has changed everything forever.'

As the media teemed with speculation as to how such a thing could have happened, and what the repercussions might be, many people were asking one inescapable question: 'Where was God on September 11?' Some even questioned if there really is a God, and if so why had he not prevented this tragedy?

The answer to that question is, firstly, that God was in exactly the same place as he was when he witnessed his own son being crucified at Calvary over 2000 years ago. The Holy Bible tells us that God has entered intimately into the reality of human suffering and at indescribable cost has taken radical action to punish evil and to eventually destroy it. He did so in the person of Jesus Christ.

Secondly, the existence of evil does not eliminate the possibility of God, but the existence of God guarantees the elimination of evil. The day is coming when God will make a cosmic moral adjustment. Perfect justice will not only be done but will be seen to be done. The wicked will no longer prosper, the righteous will no longer suffer and the problem of evil will be fully and finally settled beyond all doubt and dispute.

My prayer is that those who doubt, and indeed those who believe, will gain some comfort from these facts.