Devotional Guide
For the week of September 5, 2004
SERVING CHRIST IN WARTIME
Learning not to fear
To Read: Psalms 49-51
To Know:
"He delivers the afflicted by their affliction, and opens their ear by
adversity. He also allured you out of distress into a broad place where
there was no cramping, and what was set on your table was full of fatness."
(Job 36:15,16)
When Mark Baldwin first saw ground zero he could hardly believe he was still
in the United States. William Baldwin, owner of Baldwin Crane and Equipment
Corp is a builder. Sending his most massive machine to New York City to a
clean-up operation was by no means routine. In 1995 Baldwin cleared the 625
tons of steel, brick, and ash left after the Malden Mills fire in Methuen.
Baldwin's cranes were more often used for building up than tearing down.
These gigantic hoists built the control tower at Logan Airport, the Fleet
Center and righted the Tobin Bridge when an overloaded rig struck the span
causing a section of the bridge to collapse. Now Mark was being called on to
lift the twisted steel beams from the heap left when flaming jet fuel melted
the girders holding the top floors of the Trade Towers creating a pancake
effect that crushed the lower floors.
That Christmas Mark reflected on his experience in Manhattan in his
Christmas letter. "Despite the intense loss, hope surfaced at Ground Zero.
This hope was not based on changing circumstances but on giving hearts.
Rescue workers worked around the clock risking their lives to save others.
Relief efforts poured in from across the country. Exiting the restricted
area surrounding Ground Zero, one would see people lining the streets
cheering and waiving flags. A group from Melrose displayed a sign revealing
support from my home state. The tragedy in New York had sent shock waives
rippling across the country. Yet, just as quickly the love and support of an
entire nation flooded into the city. It is this love that lifted up the
weary, brought hope to the hopeless and comforted the mourning."
To Ask:
Father, teach us your ways in Christ in order that we might not fear our
circumstances.
09094$-09094
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