God Is There

I was recently taken to the Oklahoma City bombing memorial. I had never seen it or heard of it before, but as I walked in, I immediately knew what I was looking at. For those of you who don’t know, at 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh parked a rental truck filled with explosives in front of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The blast killed 168 people, injured at least 650 more, and damaged or destroyed more than 300 of the nearby buildings; this was the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil before 9/11.

Today, in place of this building, there is a memorial. A wall stands at both the entrance and exit. One is marked with the time 9:01 and the other is marked with 9:03 to symbolize that the area in between is remembering 9:02. There is also a reflecting pool located in the middle between these two walls.

I was told to use my time there to reflect about my defining moments and to write them down. However, I was a rebel and did not write them down. I already know my past defining moments and I’m more likely to lose the paper than I am to forget them; and I don’t want to think of any that may or may not happen in the future because I don’t know what will take place. Instead, I sat by the reflecting pool and just let it all soak in. While sitting there, I had realized that God was there at 9:01 and God was there at 9:03, but the thing most people miss is the fact that God was there at 9:02.

When tragedy strikes, people often ask “where was God?” and I’ve heard some people say that “bad things happen because we have kicked God out.” Many seem to be under the misunderstanding that we can control God, and that He is not all-powerful or omnipresent. It may be hard to see God through the smoke, but He is there whether we want Him there or not.

God has made us a promise to never leave us or forsake us. God keeps His promises and even guaranteed this promise by sending His only Son, Immanuel (which means “GOD WITH US”), to die on the cross for us. During our “9:02 moments,” we can look back to the cross and see God; then, we can look forward to the hope of eternal life. These will help us to look and find God’s presence there at 9:02, even among the destruction and chaos.

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”  2 Corinthians 1:20-22