Editor's Note: This devotion was written by Concordia University Ann Arbor's Campus Pastor Rev. Randy Duncan.
For some, it was Pearl Harbor and for others it was the assassination of President Kennedy. For my generation, it was September 11, 2001.
These events etched indelible memories as we recall where we were and what we were doing when we heard the tragic news. Nineteen years have passed, and yet the magnitude and ramifications of that day remain, even for our incoming freshmen at CUAA, who interestingly were born in that year.
Today, we remember.
Yes, we remember murder, terror, fire, and fear. However, we disgrace this day if that is all we remember!
Let us remember courage, grace, and love.
Let us remember the amazing bravery of the people, who rushed to help, and those who assisted others out of the fire and ash, and those who used their last minutes on earth to call their families and say, “I love you. I love you. I will love you forever.”
Let us remember the first-responders and firefighters who ran up the stairs, knowing they would never come down, and the passengers storming the cockpit with the cry, “Let’s roll!” and the sergeant who ran out of the Pentagon to catch women leaping from high windows.
Fast-forward nineteen years from then, and we find ourselves in another crisis.
How shall we respond? By God’s grace, we respond with similar courage, grace, and love. We focus not on what is lost, but what is left.
We focus on Jesus, who is not only the hope of the world; He is the hope of your world. He is the hope in your situation, your loss, your crisis, your tragedy, your disaster.
He will never leave you nor forsake you. He is near to the brokenhearted. We remember how essentially He spoke from the cross, “I love you. I love you. I will love you forever.”
Today, we remember.
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