From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Sept. 11, 2001, is a date people remember everywhere and will for generations. On that terrible day, four passenger jets were hijacked and used as weapons against the United States. Thousands of innocent people died.

What does God want us to learn from tragedies like 9/11? While the full answer is hard to determine, it caused many people to turn to God for the first time, and millions came together to pray.

Tragedies have lessons. Jack Mowday served in the military as a helicopter pilot, but tragically died while falling from a hot-air balloon that had caught a high-tension wire. His wife later said that her husband knew that if he didn’t survive the leap, he would be in Heaven with the Lord. Because she had that complete assurance that Jack had prepared for death, she would someday see him again. She said, “My own life has changed dramatically. … I have supernatural peace because the Lord really meets us in our times of need. Although the pain of missing Jack is very real, the comforting presence of the Lord is also very real.”

One lesson God would teach us all is that our only lasting hope is in Him. Life has always been uncertain, and events like 9/11 make that clear. Only God’s kingdom will never end. This is why it’s vital for people to put their faith and trust—their very lives—in the hand of God, for He alone offers us “a kingdom which cannot be shaken” (Hebrews 12:28).

(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)

Have you put your trust in Christ? He loves you and is waiting.