The Numbers of 9/11

The Numbers of 9/11

Today, many will be reflecting on the tragic violence and loss from 25 years ago. People will recount the details, and some will attempt to draw lessons from the tragic day or use it to make political points. As believers, we know that God works in all situations for the good of believers, often behind the scenes. Sometimes those little stories of God’s grace and glory emerge later, and sometimes even great stories like this one get overlooked. Several years ago, I heard this story, bought the book to make sure it really happened ("trust, but verify"), and recently used it as a sermon illustration. So, it has been on my mind as this date approached.

         The death of Lisa’s dad had tested her youth faith. Understandably, the life of that 15-year-old was shaken, and so was her faith. She recounts her bitterness: “I railed at God, sometimes overly, but most of the time expressing a silent rage. God, you could have prevented this tragedy if you had wanted to! Why didn’t you? I would cry inwardly. Don’t you love us? This isn’t the way things are supposed to be!”1

            Later, at Wheaton College, God brought that verse back around again as a wise Christian leader helped her reflect on that childhood loss and let go of her anger. She reread Romans 11:33-36, and it changed her (again): "As I read those words, a thought struck me. Who are you to question God and say that you have a better plan than he does?”2 Do you see the trajectory of her life? God often uses the memorization and meditation on his word to heal our past hurts and to prepare for the future. Sometimes, he even keeps using the same words, applied at different seasons of life. And Romans 11:33-26 would surface again in her season of greatest need, because Lisa was Lisa Beamer!

            After 9/11 and the loss of her husband on United Flight 93, she was suddenly in the spotlight. All who lost loved ones on 9/11 were grieving, but there is something particularly taxing on the soul when your life and grief are suddenly public! Todd and the courageous passengers who fought and died for control of that plane became heroes. Their courage became summed up in that now famous phrase, “Let’s roll,” spoken by Todd as the passengers prepared to take back that plane. Like Lisa, Todd had a vibrant faith, and although he is best known for “Let’s Roll,” more impressive was that under pressure and on the edge of eternity, he had just recited from memory Psalm 23 and the Lord’s Prayer on the phone with Lisa Jefferson, the GTE Airfone supervisor.

            Awash in the publicity from her husband’s courageous actions, those famous words, and trying to care for her family, she needed hope. And you can complete the story, can’t you? God would use Romans 11:33-36 a third time!  Just weeks before 9/11, Lisa had recently reviewed and pondered that passage as she studied Romans in preparation for a Bible study.

            But weeks passed after 9/11 until a day came that she had been dreading. The vehicles of all involved in those flights had been impounded as authorities searched for clues about the attack. But then the vehicles were released, and Lisa dreaded that “sad job” of going through Todd’s car. Caring friends did that burdensome work for the family – and found hope from those numbers: 11:33-36 of Romans!3

   On top of a stack of memorization cards in Todd’s car, recovered from the airport, was that exact passage - Romans 11:33-36. Whether he had recently memorized it while driving, like he regularly did with passages, or whether he had just read it on that fateful morning, Lisa was reassured: “Seeing that card reminded me that God is always speaking to us and giving us just the words we need for the events he knows lie ahead.”4The same comfort Todd had been thinking about from that verse again brought Lisa hope amid the darkness of grief.

            How has God comforted you through certain verses spoken by others or from verses drawn from your memory? Do you understand the need for, and practice, regularly studying God’s word, and even more importantly, retaining it through reflective meditation and intentional memorization? Pastor and author Andrew Davis has memorized many books of the Bible. For him, the best part of the many benefits of memorization is what God does inside him: The best part of memorization, by far, is what it does to my faith. I believe that faith is the eyesight of the soul by which we see invisible spiritual realities past, present, and future… Bible memory preserves and feeds my soul.”5

            Commit or recommit to the regular study of God’s word, ongoing meditation on it, and the memorization of it. Then, you'll have the right number when you need it, on those days in your future that God only knows – whether tragic or triumphant!

 

1Lisa Beamer, Let’s Roll: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Courage (Wheaton: Tyndall House Publishers, 2002), 63-4.

2Ibid., 82-8.

3Ibid., 273-4.

4Ibid., 274.

5Andrew Davis, “Why I Memorize Books of the Bible,” Desiring God, 21 May, 2021. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/why-i-memorize-books-of-the-bible