I have before me a picture that was taken last
Christmas. And the picture was sent to the daddy
of the three little boys who are in the picture.
And a lovely mama, a beautiful mama, Anna Lou.
And here are the three sons. Young Timothy, Jeffrey,
Stephen, and oh, they're so proud of their daddy.
Major Hart Armstrong. There's a Christmas tree
that was taken in the living room of the home.
Oh, the smile on their faces. Their faces are
radiant. And you can just imagine what the...
Daddy felt when he got this picture of a little
family back home. But you know, one never knows
what tomorrow is going to bring. No one is immune
to tragedy. Always know that. There isn't a person
in the whole world who is immune to sorrow. And
late in April, Major Hart Armstrong hurried from
Vietnam to the bedside of his wife who was injured
by a tornado which destroyed the house where
she was visiting. She died shortly after he arrived
home from Vietnam. And this is his story. This
is his testimony to... God's faithfulness, and
I give it to you word for word, just as he has
given it. Life is a tapestry woven by the master
weaver. We look on the underside, and we question
the ravelings, the peculiar pattern, the color
formations. but God looks on the top. The pattern
unfolds beautifully, as with perfect skill. The
weaver works. He knows how the completed tapestry
will look. A stroke of bold color has suddenly
come across my life. A heartache, a heartbreak.
My darling is suddenly and permanently gone,
so young, the mother of my three children. While
separated by 13 ,000 miles, the events began
that permitted her glorious entry to her home,
her heavenly home, and into the presence of her
master. A tumult of questions and doubts came
tumbling into my mind. How am I to care for my
three sons? The mother is gone. How do you tell
them that their mother will never return? How
do you tell three youngsters that their mother
is gone? That she'll not be coming home today?
Should I stay in the military service, itself
an occupation marked by instability? What can
the future hold but problem after problem? The
turbulence cannot be imagined, only experienced.
Only those who've gone through such an hour of
darkness can understand. I felt suddenly plunged
into dark, deep, stormy waters, waters that were
bitter cold. I felt as Peter in Matthew the 14th
chapter. When Peter looked around at the high
waves, he was terrified and he began to sink.
My quiet time seemed void. My prayers so empty.
Praying almost seemed futile. The Lord unhearing.
As Peter, I cried, save me, Lord. Please, Lord,
save me. And then to continue Peter's experience,
Jesus reached out his hand and rescued me. Oh,
man of little faith. Jesus said, why did you
doubt? Why did you ever doubt me? The waters
were still dark and swift, but I wasn't swept
off my feet. The bottom was solid, and as the
waters came to my chin, I found a firm, strong
hand leading me safe to the other side. And God
made me realize that I had turned my focus and
attention to the problems and from my relationship
to him. I was concentrating on the wrong things.
The problems seemed even bigger than my God.
I was concerned with what I was going to do.
What about the problems? And not standing in
awe. at what God could do with them. How pitifully
natural. We're all so human. The strongest of
us is so human. Whenever a crisis arises, we
immediately begin casting about among our feeble
human resources to see how we can solve it. We
turn to man. We turn to His methods instead of
to God and His miracles. As the children of Israel,
we have not learned the lesson. And after the
miraculous escape and repeated miracles, we still
are prone to doubt God in the desert. I was not
applying an oft -taught lesson, one that I had
memorized. in Colossians, the second chapter,
the sixth verse. And now, just as you trusted
Christ to save you, trust him for each day's
problems. Live in vital communion and union with
him. And so I began to wait patiently on him,
realizing the truth of the 25th Psalm. he will
teach the ways that are right and best to those
who humbly turn to him how blessed the experience
if we will only be still and know that he is
god be still there is such power there is such
strength in Be still and know that he is God.
The message came through strong and clear. Trust
me. Commit your problem to me. Just stay in vital
union with me. Oh, what a burden was lifted.
Tumult of doubt and worry was replaced with promises
and assurances of provision. Hasty plans needed
to be remade. The decisions guided by human logic
were not necessarily the paths in which the Lord
wanted to lead. Jeremiah, the 29th chapter, the
11th verse, was the most precious promise given.
For I know the plans I am planning for you, declareth
Jehovah. Plans of welfare and not of calamity
to give you a future and a hope. And again, God
asserted himself vitally and personally interested
in every department of my life. For the first
time, I realized how vitally interested he was
in every detail of my life. Time, place, duration,
occupation, purpose. I was personal to him. My
needs were personal to him. Put me to the test.
Over and over again he kept saying to me, put
me to the test. Oh, put God to the test. and
see how kind he is. See for yourself the way
his mercy showered down on all who trust in him.
Then suddenly, each problem now became just another
puzzle for the Lord to solve. I committed. I
learned how to commit each day to him, how to
commit each problem to him. It has become a joy
to anticipate the next difficulty, excitingly
to stand on tiptoe and see how he's going to
work it out. Oh, for the Christians, death should
not be a tragedy, but a triumphant event to look
forward to. It's only the beginning of the joyous
life of the future that we can begin to experience
here on Earth. It's not the end. is the beginning.
A Christian should have a homesickness to return
to his only true and permanent home that makes
a freshman's homesickness at Christmas time pale
by comparison. I feel a twinge of jealousy because
my loved one has gone first and is now seeing
our master face to face. How wonderful to be
getting the answers firsthand. to the questions
that we have to continue to ponder and discuss.
My three boys and I realize that to want her
back is only selfish on our part. We must admit
that the root of this desire is to please us,
a selfish desire. A very selfish. very selfish
desire to make our earthly burden a little lighter.
When you truly love someone, you want only the
very best for them. Nothing but the finest will
do. Could there be anything finer or better than
to be sitting at the Lord's feet? No. To have
her back, if it were possible, would be robbing
her of the greatest joy our eternal soul can
experience. What joy she must be experiencing.
Our poor little mind cannot begin to fathom her
joys. Think of it in the presence of the master.
Faith having become a reality. While recently
driving through the beautiful green countryside
and Kentucky horse farms, I momentarily longed
for her to enjoy the beauty with me. But the
thought quickly followed, how can I wish her
here to see such temporary beauty? when I'm longing
myself for the beauty that she is seeing. In
God's concept of time, she will have only been
there a few minutes and will turn to see us enter
heaven's gates. And then another thought crossed
my mind. I loved her so much. She is missing
so much of my love. But can my love or any human
love That love that she is now receiving, no.
Our human love is beggarly by comparison. Some
may foolishly ask, how can a loving God take
a mother from a family? How can a loving God
leave three young sons without a mother? But
we're told in the Psalms that precious in the
sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
God does not take lightly or lightly permit the
death of one of his own. He is more vitally interested
and concerned in the lives of his children than
we can ever imagine. What more loving deed can
a father do than call one of his children permanently
home to him? Again, we must honestly admit that
our thoughts and our desires are rooted in our
own selfishness. Oh, sure. The refiner's fire
is hot. And as the dross is skimmed away, I can
understand Peter's urging. in 1 Peter, the fourth
chapter, that we be not surprised at the fiery
trial that has come to test us, but to rejoice.
It proves God is concerned and that he's patiently
working his master plan in our lives. Though
we might not always understand, we can have faith
in God. and move out confidently. I have read
you the words of Major Hart Armstrong after the
death of his wife. Tragedy or... I can give you
the answer if you tell me in whom you have faith.
Believe me, it's not what happens to you that's
so important. It's what you do with that thing
after it happens to you. The world may call it
a tragedy. The world may say it's an injustice.
The world may say it's all wrong. And yet, life
is a tapestry woven by the master weaver. We
look on the underside and we question the ravelings.
But God sees the finished tapestry. One thing
I know, he never makes a mistake. And so, today
again, I give him thanks for every stone that
bruised my feet. For all the heartbreak, all
the heartache, all the sorrows, all the fruitless
years, all the hopes that I've lived in vain,
I do give thanks. For now I know that these were
the things that helped me grow.