From Him and through Him and to Him
are all things... Romans 11:36
| Courage |
Rev. Andrew JJ Paton |
Christian
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The soldier kissed the little gold cross around his neck and recited a Psalm learned in Sunday School: "I trust in you O my God,let not my enemies triumph over me." With that he pressed the sniper's rifle to his cheek and drew a bead on the next Nazi soldier to fall victim to his sharp shooter skills.
Sound familiar? It's because you saw him in the movie Saving Private Ryan. That story was about ordinary men on a mission to find and send home an ordinary fellow soldier. The tale touched us deeply because, like the later epic We Were Soldiers starring Mel Gibson, it recalled the sacrifice of everyday American boys. Many of them were only just out of school, most thrust from their little hometown into the horrors of war's carnage.
It's a new war. It's only 12 months old. The enemy is as fanatical and ruthless as previous foes. Al Qaeda made its "Pearl Harbor" attack on that peaceful, clear Tuesday morning as our sons and daughters moved through the morning ritual of commerce and industry. Most of the civilians who perished in New York were young, so very young!
In the following months we were elated at victories scored in a mountainous foreign land where cave by cave our soldiers routed the Bin Ladin forces. Yet with this there came the names of our dead. Sgt. Special Forces, the crew of aircraft... , CIA agent...
One of the original American boys to rise in defense of his country was from New Jersey. When the magnitude of the threat was clear he knew his duty. He was on the hijacked flight that left Newark late for L.A., but now was bound for either the White House or the Capital Building.
Just before he engaged the enemy he too recited Bible verses. We know this because he was on the GTE airfone to operator Lisa Jefferson from inside the cabin of United Airlines flight 93. He relayed to her their plans to "jump the guy with the bomb." What follows is very important: He reached back into his childhood memories and recited with Lisa the words of The Lords Prayer and then those of Psalm 23. "The Lord is my shepherd..." and on to the verse that says "yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for Thou art with me."
When the psalm ended he added a 3 word prayer "Jesus, help me."
With the weight of duty pressing hard on his shoulders this ordinary family man sighed deeply, turned from the phone and spoke those simple words to the others around him: "Are you ready? OK let's roll."
I don't know what happened next. The cockpit voice recorder has sounds of dishes shattering and the terrorists yelling at each other to hold the flight deck door.
Aircraft debris in a Shanksville, PA field marked the spot where, at great price, a part of Al Qaeda's evil plan was thwarted.
New Jersey sales rep Todd Beamer was our first son to lay down his life in this war. He wasn't a super hero. The week before he and his wife Lisa were laughing in Italy as they vacationed with sons David (4) and Drew (18months). With new baby Morgan on the way they were just another happy tourist family.
Lisa recalls: "he was focused at work but on a fun level he could roll around the floor with a 2 year old."
With so much to live for, where does an ordinary man find courage to risk death at duty's call? Jefferson relayed, at Todd's request, his final words to his wife: "I don't think we're going to get out of this thing. I'm going to have to go out on faith."
Part of Todd's reserves of courage was found in his car. Lisa saw them as she looked inside. The scripture memorization cards lay in the tray between the front seats. Todd used one each day as he drove to commit the Bible to memory.
On top of the stack, the last one he used, was Romans 11vs 33,
"Oh the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God... From Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever, Amen."
Do you have God's words deep inside you for the hour of danger?
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