“Jesus said, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Matthew 7:24
The night of September 10 was Tom McGuinness’ 42nd birthday. He and his wife Cheryl had dinner at a romantic restaurant and she had an opportunity to share her heart with him. She told him how she had seen God shape his life and how she felt so honored to be his wife! Theirs had been a wonderful marriage with Christ in their lives, two great children, Tommy (14) and Jennifer (16) growing into adulthood. It was a great evening! Cheryl didn’t know it was to be their last together.
Very early the next morning, on the 11th, after Tom left for work, Cheryl poured herself a cup of coffee and stepped out on the back porch of their home in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She took her Bible with her. She was used to this routine as Tom was a pilot and often had to leave early. Suddenly, she received a phone call! The plane her husband Tom had been flying had been hijacked! Quickly, friends and family called and filled the house.
Soon after, the chief pilot for American Airlines arrived at the house. The plane her husband had been piloting, Flight 11, had not only been hijacked, she was told, but had been flown into the World Trade Center and there was no chance he had survived!
Cheryl became hysterical! “No, God, please don’t call him home!” In the days following she felt broken and devastated. At the memorial service, she was greatly comforted when their young son, Tommy described how his dad had read the Bible each morning. His dad was his hero! Tom left a legacy to his children.
Still, Cheryl grappled with questions: What about our children? Who will walk Jen down the aisle some day? Who will teach Tommy to shave? But as she came back to her foundation, the Rock, she was comforted.
Today, Cheryl says, “God is the only way I can survive. I am comforted knowing that the Lord cradled Tom in His arms as the plane hit the Trade Center. Our heavenly Father was there when His Son hung on the cross and was crucified for our sins. He was there when Tom’s plane crashed. I am convinced that Jesus wept with me and with the others who were hurt.”
Cheryl continued, “A few weeks before Tom died, he told me to trust in God if anything ever happened. Something did and it was terrible! But I am trusting the Lord and finding that He truly is trustworthy!”
Storms will come. Grief will still be there. You may be shaken, but if you have built on the Rock…like Cheryl, you will come back to the promises of God and your house will stand firm!
In his comments at the National Cathedral on September 14, 2001, President Bush quoted from the Bible,,,, “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” Romans 8:38-39. Receive Christ into your heart today and begin the transformation in your life that only He can do. He loves you and died to save you! He will be your Rock, your Sword and your Shield!
Your friend, Jean