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As I reflected over the past 25 years I realized that I have had to stand before a gathering of God’s people and proclaim God’s Word following the explosion of the Challenger, the explosion of the Pam Am flight over England, Desert Storm, the American Hostage situation, the Gulf War, the Oklahoma City Bombing, and the 1st Bombing of the World Trade Center. While they were significant events in history, they pale in comparison to this past Tuesday’s holocaust.

The use of four commercial planes as missiles to bomb the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, has caused a heaviness of heart that has not been felt since the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Unlike that day of infamy, on Tuesday the world watched in horror as war was declared on America and humanity. While the president is calling us to return our lives to normal, the events of this past Tuesday have redefined what normal is.

As we sit stunned, our world now seems to be out of control. It is during times like these that we realize control is an illusion. We think our lives are under our control, and we are the ones driving.

When events like this happen, we need to see our so-called “ordered” lives as they are, ordered by none other than our Creator.

“God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in times of trouble.”

Psalm 46 celebrates God’s strength and our security in Him. As you read the first nine verses of Psalm 46 it becomes very apparent that some form of crisis has prompted the Psalmist to write this Psalm. What that crisis is we don’t know. It has no doubt brought a sense of instability and insecurity in the life of the Psalmist just as the events of this past week has brought instability and insecurity to our lives.

The sight of seeing cities suddenly crumbling as the result of war is a haunting one, but the Psalmist says that even if the world ends, we need not fear. In the face of utter destruction, the writer expressed a quiet confidence in God’s ability to save.

It seems impossible to consider the end of the world without becoming consumed with fear, but the Bible is clear - God is our refuge even in the face of total destruction. God is not merely a temporary retreat; He is our eternal refuge and can provide strength in any circumstance.

Beyond creation is the power and will of the sovereign Creator. Beyond current events stands the power of God. God lives in this world.

“God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in times of trouble.”

The question I know I have been asked through the week is what can I do?

While I applaud our nations zealous return to patriotism. I caution: that a renewed patriotism that does not include a renewed desire to BE One Nation Under God; that does not include living up to our motto, “In God We Trust.” will have no lasting benefit.

We need to come back again to God, to the cross of Christ.

We need to be still and see God working through our suffering. We need to be still and remember those who nailed Jesus to the cross intended it for evil, but God intended it for good. The cross is ultimately a victory because it holds the key to salvation.

We need to be still and see that God himself is not removed from our suffering. God participated in the suffering of the cross and He suffers for us and with us now.

We need to be driven:

1.	Driven to a deeper faith, a deeper relationship with God. .
2.	Driven to lead our children to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. .
3.	Driven to make sure that the terrorized do not become the terrorist. Even if we do not initiate bias attacks against Muslims we also must not tolerate such acts. Such acts are acts of extreme anger, which otherwise is known as terrorism. To tolerate them only continues Tuesday’s terrorism. .
4.	Driven to pray. John Piper in “Desiring God” says, “Prayer is the turning away from ourselves to God in the confidence that He will provide the help we need. Prayer humbles us as needy and exalts God as wealthy.” .
5.	Driven to be God fearing Americans.

“God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in times of trouble… Be still and know that I am God.”

The same God who called Abraham to follow, the same God who saved Noah from the consequences of humanities sins, the same God who led Moses and the Israelites through the Red Sea, the same God who turned the cross of Jesus into our victory over sin and death

“Be still and know that I am God.”

The God of victory is with us.

Amen