Sept. 11, 2001, was indisputably one of the darkest days in American history. Evil descended upon us and turned New York City into a literal hell on earth, battered our nation’s capital and turned a simple field in Pennsylvania into a pit of destruction … but through the deepest darkness, God Almighty was a beacon of light, just as John 1:5 describes: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Every year when September 11 approaches, I make a special effort to learn more about what happened on that fateful day. I take time to watch documentaries, listen to oral history accounts, view pictures and videos, and finally – on the actual day – I observe the memorial ceremonies live throughout the day.

This past week, I listened to the astonishing account of Will Jimeno, a Port Authority police officer who was rescued from the rubble of both collapsed towers of the World Trade Center. For 13 hours, Will lay motionless, trapped and badly injured in what he describes as “the mouth of hell.”

“It was like your worst nightmare times three million,” he said. “I was so thirsty. And I closed my eyes and I wanted to die.”

As Will waited for death to take him, he thanked God for all he’d been blessed with – his wife Allison, 4-year-old daughter Bianca, and another daughter on the way; a law enforcement career he loved and had worked so hard to attain; and 33 years of love and memories he’d experienced.

He also had two requests – Please, God, somehow, someway, let me see my daughter be born, and please give me water.

It was at that moment that Will had a vision of Jesus walking toward him in a white, flowing robe. In the distance was a tranquil lake with trees around it and an endless sea of grass. And in Jesus’s hands was a bottle of water.

“I snapped out of that vision, dream, whatever you want to call it, knowing that Jesus was telling me to fight,” he said.

Will gives God all the glory for saving his life that day. He shared his incredible survival story of hope and recovery in the book Sunrise Through the Darkness.

Next, I heard from Brian Clark, a Canadian businessman who was one of only 18 survivors to safely evacuate from above the impact zone of the South Tower. Brian describes 9/11 as a series of miraculous events that included making it from the 84th floor of the South Tower, rescuing and befriending a stranger named Stanley Praimnath, and returning to his home in New Jersey a few hours after his friends and family had assumed he was dead.

“I knew in a split second it was terrorism, but I didn’t know what had happened precisely,” Brian said, recalling when the second plane hit the second tower. “It all happened in a second, and then for 10 seconds, I was terrified, but that was the only 10 seconds of the day I was afraid.”

Brian watched in disbelief as the building swayed west for a few seconds and then returned to vertical. And in that instant, he said, “This feeling washed over me, not so much a voice, but this feeling, Brian, you’re going to be fine. And I felt fine. I felt completely in control of what I was going to be doing next.”

Brian then had to decide which stairwell he was going to descend, and although he intended to go right to Stairway C, he felt a strange “push” on his right shoulder to go left to Stairway A – the only one of the four stairways that remained intact after the impact.

It was soon after that he heard Stanley’s voice calling for help, and he continued down toward the impact zone to find him. Brian’s coworkers had decided to go up in hopes of a rooftop rescue, which unfortunately never came.

I know the harsh reality is that thousands were not protected from physical peril … but I also know that God was still present with those who faced the unthinkable.

This brings me to the tragic but heroic story of United Airlines Flight 93, a group of 40 everyday Americans who teamed up in their final moments to fight back against evil.

Among the passengers were a former pilot, a rugby player, a man trained in judo and martial arts, and a genius business executive and strategist, as well as several people who were unwilling to go quietly without a fight. “It was almost as if the passengers of Flight 93 were handpicked to carry out an insurrection,” said the narrator in one Flight 93 documentary I watched.

I thought hard about that for a second. The reason it seemed like they were handpicked, I thought to myself, is because they were handpicked … by God himself. 

God was with each of these heroes as they discovered the terrorists’ plot. He had afforded them skills and experiences throughout their lives that equipped them to fight back. He blessed them with peace and wisdom as they said goodbye to their loved ones on the ground. And he gave them courage and strength as they prepared to storm the hijacked cockpit.

There were several Christians on board that flight, including Todd Beamer, who prayed the Lord’s prayer with the Airfone operator, Lisa Jefferson, on the other line before uttering his famous last words, “Are you ready? OK, let’s roll.”

It makes me shudder to imagine the reality they faced … and the willingness they had to do as Jesus did – greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for his friends (John 15:13).

There’s no telling how many lives were saved from their brave actions … and on that note, just imagine how many lives were spared that day.

There were 50,000 people that went to work that day at the World Trade Center, and roughly 47,000 made it out.

There were 535+ senators and congresspeople (plus staff) who were scheduled to assemble at the Capitol building, and none of them were physically harmed.

There are so many stories of people who logically should not have survived, but by the grace of God, they are alive and breathing now, 23 years later.

I don’t say this to make light of the fact that 2,977 innocent lives were lost on 9/11 – it is a horrific tragedy that we will NEVER forget … but I do believe God’s mercy and grace worked more miracles on that day than we will ever know on this side of heaven.