September 11: Fifteen Years Later

September 11, 2016

"I remember. We all remember where we were as it happened."

As Matt Reagan walked the grounds of the 9/11 Memorial, it all came flooding back. The sights and the sounds. The power of darkness. Years of planning finally set into heinous motion. Thick beams melting, giving way to a smokescreen of ash.

“I was right back to the fear,” Reagan said, “and how we all felt so helpless.”

Matt Bayless, who was also at the Memorial, gazed over the pools marking the fallen towers' foundations. He remembered the rescuers and first responders. As terrified survivors fled the destruction, these heroes ran headlong into the wreckage and flames, even while knowing that some of them wouldn't get out alive. Those who did emerge were forever changed.

Bayless remarked how such bravery and sacrifice inspired an overwhelming sense of unity and a new level of hope. “A city with so many walks of life and points of view had suddenly come together," he said, "uniting around the need for lives to be saved in the midst of evil and uncertainty.” The whole country felt it.

Standing on that solemn ground, it didn't take long before their thoughts turned close to home.

“We thought about our city,” Reagan said, “our neighborhoods, marriages, kids. The plans and the plotting that the enemy has made. The power of darkness. For some of us, the towers have already fallen. For others, they’re about to. But our hope is in a Rescuer who will not fail."

In the midst of evil and uncertainty, Christ came to save—knowing full well that the rescue mission would end in His death. When He emerged from the grave, the world was forever changed. Light overcame the darkness. Perfect love cast out all fear.

Fifteen years later, we remember the lives lost and the sacrifices made. And no matter what happens, we remember to place our hope in something that cannot crumble, in our Rescuer who overcomes. We have an invitation to unite, to join in the rescue operation— coming together at the very foundation, the feet of Jesus.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
-John 16:33