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I've heard it asked over and over this past week Where's God in all this tragedy? I don't know about anyone else, but I've seen God's merciful hand in several places this past week. I've seen His hand at work in the fact that the World Trade Center towers stood long enough after impact for so very many of those inside to escape down the stairs and out of the buildings, instead of falling down upon impact. I've heard civil engineers wondering a couple times how those towers stood after impact since they're not built to sustain an impact of that magnitude. But yet, they did, meaning the toll of dead and missing is estimated to be 5,000 instead of 20,000 to 50,000 as are sometimes in the towers.

I've seen His hand of mercy in the fact that the planes used for these attacks only carried 285 people, instead of a full compliment of over 1,000. And on one plane it seems, the heroic passengers overcame the hijackers and brought the plane down in the middle of nowhere instead of it's intended target.

Somehow His hand even got into the planes the terrorists used. How did the plane meant for the White House end up hitting the Pentagon? And not only did it hit the Pentagon instead, but it hit it in a place just recently rebuilt to better sustain attacks! Had it hit it anywhere else the authorities tell us, the damage and death would have been much, much worse.

I've seen His hand again in that the twin towers imploded on collapse, falling in on themselves rather than just toppling over and obliterating the other buildings in the vicinity. I have seen the Texas Tower building in Houston, which is only 75 stories tall. I can't even imagine the damage it would do to the surrounding neighborhoods if it fell over. And these TWO towers are 35 stories taller! Yet, instead of toppling to the side, they BOTH imploded and fell in on themselves, keeping the colateral damage to a minimum.

I've seen God at work in the volunteers, who simply refuse to go home. Thousands of them. I saw a picture yesterday that says it all. An obviously exhausted fireman, laying on a semi-protected section of sidewalk, sleeping with his search and rescue dog, a huge German shepherd, sleeping next to him. And the Canadians, sending dog boots to wear on the paws of the search dogs as they climb and scrape through the metal and glass to find anyone. Who would have thought, in all this mess, about the paws of search dogs? I think I see a little glimmer of God in that too.

And I saw God in the way people pulled together to help in this. He has been mentioned much in the headlines and news reports this past week, but I think a true shining example of His hand at work were the college students, generation X'ers, who lined up for hours to give blood or man Red Cross phones. But I especially see Him in the ones in New York who stood at the edges of "ground zero" and simply shouted out at the top of their lungs what supplies the rescuers were in dire need of and the people standing around raced to the stores in the area and bought them and brought them back. No one asked "Am I going to be reimbursed

I know that there are literally thousands more examples of how God was at work in all this. But now that you've seen a few examples, I think you'll be better able to see the rest for yourself.

Thank You, Lord God our Father, for Your mercy which endures forever, and for the fact that You really can work all things for good. May You be blessed and praised forever, and may Your hand continue to be upon and bless this country. May You get all honor and glory, exaltation and blessing, forever and ever. In Jesus name...AMEN and Amen.



		WHERE'S GOD IN ALL OF THIS?

	I've heard it asked over and over this past week Where's God in all this tragedy? I don't know about anyone else, but I've seen God's merciful hand in several places this past week. I've seen His hand at work in the fact that the World Trade Center towers stood long enough after impact for so very many of those inside to escape down the stairs and out of the buildings, instead of falling down upon impact. I've heard civil engineers wondering a couple times how those towers stood after impact since they're not built to sustain an impact of that magnitude. But yet, they did, meaning the toll of dead and missing is estimated to be 5,000 instead of 20,000 to 50,000 as are sometimes in the towers. I've seen His hand of mercy in the fact that the planes used for these attacks only carried 285 people, instead of a full compliment of over 1,000. And on one plane it seems, the heroic passengers overcame the hijackers and brought the plane down in the middle of nowhere instead of it's intended target. Somehow His hand even got into the planes the terrorists used. How did the plane meant for the White House end up hitting the Pentagon? And not only did it hit the Pentagon instead, but it hit it in a place just recently rebuilt to better sustain attacks! Had it hit it anywhere else the authorities tell us, the damage and death would have been much, much worse. I've seen His hand again in that the twin towers imploded on collapse, falling in on themselves rather than just toppling over and obliterating the other buildings in the vicinity. I have seen the Texas Tower building in Houston, which is only 75 stories tall. I can't even imagine the damage it would do to the surrounding neighborhoods if it fell over. And these TWO towers are 35 stories taller! Yet, instead of toppling to the side, they BOTH imploded and fell in on themselves, keeping the colateral damage to a minimum. I've seen God at work in the volunteers, who simply refuse to go home. Thousands of them. I saw a picture yesterday that says it all. An obviously exhausted fireman, laying on a semi-protected section of sidewalk, sleeping with his search and rescue dog, a huge German shepherd, sleeping next to him. And the Canadians, sending dog boots to wear on the paws of the search dogs as they climb and scrape through the metal and glass to find anyone. Who would have thought, in all this mess, about the paws of search dogs? I think I see a little glimmer of God in that too. And I saw God in the way people pulled together to help in this. He has been mentioned much in the headlines and news reports this past week, but I think a true shining example of His hand at work were the college students, generation X'ers, who lined up for hours to give blood or man Red Cross phones. But I especially see Him in the ones in New York who stood at the edges of "ground zero" and simply shouted out at the top of their lungs what supplies the rescuers were in dire need of and the people standing around raced to the stores in the area and bought them and brought them back. No one asked "Am I going to be reimbursed for this? or "you mean, out of my own pocket?". They just went and did it. I know that there are literally thousands more examples of how God was at work in all this. But now that you've seen a few examples, I think you'll be better able to see the rest for yourself. Thank You, Lord God our Father, for Your mercy which endures forever, and for the fact that You really can work all things for good. May You be blessed and praised forever, and may Your hand continue to be upon and bless this country. May You get all honor and glory, exaltation and blessing, forever and ever. In Jesus name...AMEN and Amen. Rev. Bob Rindfuss Pastor - Adokimos Cornerstone Ministries [email protected]