1 Kings 6:13
And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.
On the internet yesterday, I found this interesting information:
This is what Americans believe, according to Gallup:
• 90 percent believe in God.
• 70 percent believe in the devil, up from 65 percent in 1994.
• 81 percent believe there is a heaven, up from 72 percent in 1997.
• 70 percent believe there is a hell, up from 56 percent in 1997.
90 percent of us believe in God. Woe to the other 10%! But even more interesting, I think is that 70% believe there is a hell—up from 56% in 1997. More people believe in hell today than in 1997!? Only 81% believe there is a heaven—up from 72% in 1997.
What has happened since 1997? Could most of this increase be attributed to what happened on September 11? I think it might. But what did happen? For a few hours in time we stood speechless, in disbelief and shock. Then, as the reality sank in, we began to cry and grieve. As the days passed, we really grieved, with body-shaking sobs. And we got angry and frightened.
I imagine on that day, the percentage of people who believed in God decreased dramatically! Why God? How could you let this happen to us? We found some answers, but they seem to have been short-lived. For a few months the country worshipped God openly and shamelessly through the media. For a few months it was “popular” to be patriotic again. For a few months, we were all one nation—under God.
But by 2004 life has returned to “normal.” My family and I went to Ground Zero a few weeks ago during a trip to New York City. It was just a “big hole in the ground.” Construction has begun so most of what was there is obstructed from view. But you can see the remnants on a couple of the buildings – the face of one that still shows the scars. And we talked with a homeless man who told us a chilling tale about those who planned the plane crashes—he watched them for months sit in the park and plan and think and calculate and watch . . . We believed him, in spite of ourselves.
What does all this mean? What does it have to do with anything? To me, it means that life is unpredictable. It may be short, or last a century for each of us. We don’t know, we can’t. When tragedy happens, man turns to God. When the world is not “comfortable,” we ask God why? When things don’t go our way, we lift our eyes to heaven and cry out, “woe is me.” I’m included in that 80% of fellow Americans who believe in heaven. That’s the only way I get out of bed some mornings.
That’s how I manage to make it through the day and through life. I know without doubt what awaits me. And that makes me want to be a better person, a better American, a better citizen of this world. It makes me want to thank God, and to try to never question His plan. He didn’t crash a plane into the Twin Towers. But I believe He used the aftermath of that event. We turned to God, because we had no place else to turn. And we don’t. It’s the only way. Trust and Obey. Live and Breath. Thanks and Praise.
I hope you spend your day living for heaven and breathing for eternal life with God.
Mary
