Take a deep breath and let it out. It’s going to be ok. Your Savior has everything under his control. He died and rose from the dead and ascended to heaven where he sits at the right hand of the Father with all power and authority. He’s got this. He shows you his end game. He’s coming back for you. 

 My friend, repent so that you might not die but live. Talk to a chaplain, a pastor, a friend, and confess your sin and then be ashamed no more. Do that “about face” and turn to Christ and his cross and see, my friend, that you are forgiven! No matter what it is that you have done, go to the waters of your baptism and see there that your sin has been drowned. See that Christ has created in you a new heart and given you a new life!  

The amazing thing about this story of Jonah is that God still works this way. He sends people with his radical grace and mercy to others who clearly don’t deserve it. They listen and they believe and God saves them from themselves and from destruction, from death and hell and all of it, and he gathers them into his house—people from all over the world with different skin colors and languages and cultures. Amazing! 

He will remember to be your strength when you are weak, to be your peace when there is chaos, to be your joy when there is sadness, to be your life in death. So do not forget 9/11. But do not forget your God. Remember him. Remember his promises. Because he doesn’t forget them. And he doesn’t forget about you.

My friends, I know that you have good Christian friends who have made mistakes, some big and some small—at least in the eyes of the world. Have you called them to repent? I would encourage you to do so, because this is what Jesus would have us do. Out of love for their soul, give them that safe, confidential place to confess their sin to you.

When Jesus tells you to take up your cross and follow me, it means that you must deny your own doubts and fears, and say, “No matter how great my pain, how horrible my suffering, my God remains my God and Savior because he has promised to be my God and Savior. I will embrace his promises even when they seem to contradict his promise of grace and help in every need.”