Mike Edmisten Follower of Jesus. Husband of Nicki. Father of Ryan & Brock. Communicator of the Word.

Trust

I originally wrote this article for The Connection (our church's weekly e-newsletter) last week. I thought it would be appropriate to post it on my blog today.

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Monday marks the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks. It will be a day of somber remembrance, as it should be. Most of us will pause and remember the carnage that we witnessed on our TV screens that day. We’ll remember the bravery and heroism of firefighters, police officers, and ordinary citizens. We’ll remember where we were when we first heard the news.

As I reflect back on the events of 2001, I remember how uneasy, even frightened, we were. Initially I thought the first plane to hit the World Trade Center was just a horrible accident. Then the second plane hit and it was obvious that we were under attack. The Pentagon was attacked. A fourth plane went down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. All of this just added to the fear that we felt.

I was in my office at church that morning, and as the news unfolded, the phone started ringing. It rang almost non-stop throughout the day. “Did you hear what happened?” “What’s going on?” “What’s coming next?” I heard all the questions…unfortunately I didn’t have any answers. But even though I wasn’t a great source of answers, the phone calls kept coming. For some reason, people wanted to connect to their church on this day. Even if that meant a simple phone call to a youth minister who was the only person in the office that day. Somehow, in some way, they wanted to feel their connection to their church as a hellish fury was unleashed on our nation. I guess that’s because when everything else is out of control, we hunger for something that is stable. Something that can be trusted. And as people of faith, we know that God alone is always trustworthy.

This Sunday we’re starting a new series called, “In God We Trust?” As we examine and question what we trust in our lives, let’s remember a day when everything else that we thought was trustworthy and sure was stripped away. Only God remained.

God, may it not take another tragic event to cause us to run back to our trust in you. May we trust you in everything, in every way, in every day throughout our lives. Amen.

In His Love,

Mike