Answers
By BGEA Admin • September 11, 2023 • Topics: Suffering
Q:
Sept. 11, 2001, marked one of the darkest days in our nation’s history. Still today, it brings horror to our minds. There are prayer vigils held still today to remember those who innocently lost their lives. As hard as I try to understand why God allows such tragedy, I never will, yet I believe that this evil deed came from evil in people’s hearts.
A:
From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham
None of us will ever forget Sept. 11, 2001. Within minutes, our world changed forever as two hijacked airliners plowed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third slammed into the Pentagon in Washington, and a fourth aircraft crashed into an open field in Pennsylvania.
Three days later, a special service of prayer and remembrance was held in the Washington National Cathedral and it was humbling to be invited by the president to speak words of comfort and hope to a nation in crisis.
“I have been asked hundreds of times in my life why God allows tragedy and suffering. I really do not know the answer totally, even to my own satisfaction. I have to accept, by faith, that God is sovereign and He is a God of love and mercy and compassion in the midst of suffering.”
Evil is real—but so is God’s power and love. And because He is all-powerful and loving, we can cling to Him in trust and faith—even when we don’t understand—and as believers in Jesus Christ, we can say with the psalmist, “The children of men put their trust under the shadow of [God’s] wings” (Psalm 16:7).
(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)
