Like most Americans, I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Hearing the reports at work, my first reaction after crying out to God for help and asking Him to protect us from what was happening was to immediately leave the office to drive the 45-minute drive home to be with my family so we could pray together and comfort one another.
During those moments, my thoughts and emotions were to be with loved ones, knowing like fellow believers across America, where our family’s hope laid. Psalm 91:2 assures us, “I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
9/11 Memories Linger
For those living during 9/11, even 23 years after the terrorist attacks, the memory of disbelief, terror, grief, and sorrow lingers. Fear gripped the hearts of Americans across our nation and changed how our country moved forward.
Statistics report that 2,977 people perished on September 11, 2001, in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at the hands of Islamic extremists who hijacked four commercial airliners, carrying out suicide attacks against the United States.
Megan Scheibner’s husband, Steve, the American Airlines pilot originally scheduled to fly the first plane that hit the World Trade Center was bumped last minute off the flight by a senior pilot, sparing his life that day. She wrote, “We all, as a nation, have our memories of that day; memories stamped into our subconscious because of the enormity of that major life event. Memories of a major life event that continues to shape our homes, our nation, and in fact, our world.”
9/11 Spiritual Impact
What took place on 9/11 deeply impacted our nation. Flags were lowered to half-mast mourning those who were killed, businesses and schools shut down, and people flocked to fill churches to pray and comfort one another.
Verses like 1 Thessalonians 5:3 caused some to wonder if End Times were upon us, seeming to describe what was happening around us during 9/11: “While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”
It was devastating and traumatic for our nation and at the same time turned many hearts to God, realizing our safety lies in Him, and not in ourselves. As Proverbs 1:33 explains, “But whoever listens to Me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”
9/11 Viewpoint for America Going Forward
In looking ahead toward America’s future, we are looking through eyes that remember 9/11 and the devastation experienced. It changed how we view what’s happening around us, in our nation, and in our world.
Troubling trending headlines warn us of what is taking place across America, reading reports of gangs and foreign military men invading America’s border. This and more has us wondering what is being planned under our very noses.
It has some asking, “Does America have a future?” If so, is it hanging in the balance? Are we losing our country right under our feet?
Are Americans being naïve, missing what is taking place in our land? Are terrorists invading and setting up operations across our nation, including our own backyards? Is defunding of police and calls to disarm American citizens playing into this bigger-picture plan?
9/11 Aftermath: Is America’s Future Hanging in the Balance?
Silence Equals Consent: The Sin of Omission author, historian, and speaker William J. Federer warns, “The fate of America and the world hangs in the balance, and we are key to turning things around. But the clock is ticking.”
Federer has been speaking to Americans for years, alerting us to what is taking place across our nation and in our communities, warning of the risk of doing nothing and staying silent, and encouraging Americans to wake up to our responsibilities as citizens by helping our country for ourselves and our posterity. He urges us to hang onto hope, saying, “Let's believe it is possible to turn things around, and this is now our turn!”
He reminds us how on March 30, 1961, America’s future 40th President, Ronald Reagan, spoke to the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce on the importance of passing on the history, lessons, and sacrifices of freedom to our future generations:
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. The only way they can inherit the freedom we have known is if we fight for it, protect it, defend it, and then hand it to them with the well-taught lessons of how they in their lifetime must do the same. And if you and I don't do this, then you and I may well spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it once was like in America when men were free."
As Proverbs 11:14 explains, “For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisers.”
9/11 Wake-Up Call to Christians
“Perhaps God is giving people of faith an opportunity to show what they really believe in their hearts through their words and actions,” writes Federer.
“History is filled with accounts of people suffering coercion and persecution by godless totalitarian governments, maligned, smeared, canceled and crushed in hopeless situations against insurmountable odds,” he writes, “but then, stirred by the Spirit, little nobodies rise up, small in their own eyes, but big in faith and courage, to speak truth to power and to resist evil.”
Federer believes Christians are key to turning things around, urging that while we have the chance, we must take the opportunity to change the future for the better, asking the question, "Shouldn't we at least try? And are we being given one last chance to show what we really believe in our hearts through our words and actions?”
As a nation, we need to ask if Christians have been pressured into silence and withdrawal from government and schools. Likewise, have our churches changed from being involved to not being involved? And what impact has the removal of prayer from schools affected generations? As well, have we as Americans lost rights in the name of safety measures due to 9/11 and COVID?
9/11 Call for a Spiritual Awakening
The late Dr. D. James Kennedy, former pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, once said, “Too often we forget that America became a nation soon after a spiritual revival, the First Great Awakening. Then in the 1800s, America experienced a Second Great Awakening, which helped bring about a moral revolution—particularly in addressing the evil of slavery. But now we are in need of a Third Great Awakening.”
Kennedy described what this looks like: “Many people are under the misconception that the government will solve all our problems. But I believe that true change is going to take place when people throughout the nation begin to trust in Christ and in the God that made this nation great. And that will bring about a genuine revival. A revival that eventually moves to the halls of government. Not from the government down, but from the people up. God once declared, ‘If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways: then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land!’ (2 Chronicles 7:14). May it be in our day.”
9/11 Memory Leads to Help and Hope for America’s Future
After 9/11 and all that is currently taking place today in America, there remains help and hope for its future.
Evangelist Billy Graham, in his September 14, 2001, 9/11 message at Washington National Cathedral, said, “But today we come together in this service to confess our need of God. We’ve always needed God from the very beginning of this nation. But today we need Him especially. We’re involved in a new kind of warfare. And we need the help of the Spirit of God.”
In his message, Graham went on to say, “Yes, there is hope. There is hope for the present because the stage, I believe, has already been set for a new spirit in our nation. We desperately need a spiritual renewal in this country, and God has told us in His Word time after time that we need to repent of our sins and return to Him, and He will bless us in a new way.”
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Enterline Design Services LLC.
Lynette Kittle is married with four daughters. She enjoys writing about faith, marriage, parenting, relationships, and life. Her writing has been published by Focus on the Family, Decision, Today’s Christian Woman, kirkcameron.com, Ungrind.org, StartMarriageRight.com, and more. She has a M.A. in Communication from Regent University and serves as associate producer for Soul Check TV.
