By Eric Metaxas
The best way to answer this question is to look at what the late Billy Graham did say in the past, particularly after the September 11, 2001 attacks against the US.
It was September 14, 2001—three days after the September 11 attacks robbed nearly 3,000 people of their lives. A service of prayer and remembrance was taking place at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. After prayers and hymns, including O God, Our Help in Ages Past, a hush fell as an elderly man with a mane of white hair stood up. A church official helped him up the steps to the pulpit. From there, the man gazed through his spectacles at an audience that included every living former president, along with the current one, George W. Bush. It was to Bush that the 82-year-old known as “America’s pastor”—Billy Graham—addressed his first words, thanking him for calling a national day of prayer and remembrance, which the country badly needed.
[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, Billy Graham: 1918 — 2018]
His next words were for his fellow Americans—the thousands seated in the pews and the millions watching at home on their television sets—who desperately needed comfort and hope after the evil and horrible attacks earlier that week.
“We come together today,” Graham said, “to affirm our conviction that God cares for us, whatever our ethnic, religious, or political background may be.” His message may have surprised some—especially those who had suffered the loss of loved ones on 9/11 or those whose feelings about Muslims had hardened into hate. He reminded his audience, quoting Psalm 46:1–2, that “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.”
He understood that many were angry with God for allowing the loss of so many lives at the hands of evil men. God understands this anger, he said, and we should remember that he “can be trusted, even when life seems at its darkest.”
The attacks were a reminder of “the mystery and reality of evil” and of our need for one another. And as difficult as it may be for us to understand, Graham noted, the attacks “can give a message of hope . . . for the future” because of God’s promises.
Graham spoke of his own hope for his earthly life and for the life to come and reminded his audience that many of those killed in the attacks were now with God, enjoying the glories of heaven so much that they would not desire to return to earth. This, he announced, is the hope for everyone who puts his faith in God.
Then Graham briefly gave the witness that made it into every sermon he’d ever given since he’d first begun preaching in 1937 as a teenage boy. And then he prayed that all who heard his voice would feel God’s loving arms around them, understanding that, if they put their trust in God, he would never forsake them. As Graham made his way back to his seat, there was silence at first. Then the congregation rose to its feet and gave a standing ovation.
Whatever the specifics of the dark hour you may be experiencing now, Billy Graham would want you to know that God is neither capricious nor unconcerned. You may not understand his ways, but you can trust his heart.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. — John 3:16
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Adapted from Seven More Men: And the Secret of Their Greatness by Eric Metaxas. Click here to learn more about this title.
In Seven More Men, the sequel to the enormously successful Seven Men, #1 New York Times bestselling author Eric Metaxas offers more captivating stories of some of the most inspiring men in history. A gallery of greatness comes to life as Metaxas reveals men who faced insurmountable struggles and challenges with victorious resolve.
Heroes and role models have always been tremendously important—essential for inspiring our lives and shaping the world. But in the last few decades, the need for men of valor and integrity is more vital than ever. Award-winning biographer Eric Metaxas restores a sense of the heroic in the compelling profiles of Martin Luther, George Whitefield, William Booth, George Washington Carver, Sergeant Alvin York, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, and Billy Graham. Each man evinces a particular quality: the courage to surrender themselves to a higher purpose, and the willingness to give something dear to them away for the good of others.
With vitality and warmth, Metaxas draws electrifying insights for our daily lives from the inexhaustible richness of history. Inevitably inspiring, this anthology reminds us that certain qualities are worthy of emulation. Becoming acquainted with these seven heroes cannot fail to make your life immeasurably richer.
Eric Metaxas is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther, If You Can Keep It, Miracles, Seven Women, Seven Men, and Amazing Grace. His books have been translated into more than twenty-five languages. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and the New Yorker, and Metaxas has appeared as a cultural commentator on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. He is the host of The Eric Metaxas Radio Show, a daily nationally syndicated show aired in 120 U.S. cities and on TBN. Metaxas is also the founder of Socrates in the City, the acclaimed series of conversations on “life, God, and other small topics,” featuring Malcolm Gladwell, Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, Baroness Caroline Cox, and Dick Cavett, among many others. He is a senior fellow and lecturer at large at the King’s College in Manhattan, where he lives with his wife and daughter.
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The post What Would Billy Graham Say if He Were Alive Today? appeared first on Bible Gateway Blog.
