WEBVTT 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:03.859 I have before me a picture that was taken last 00:00:03.859 --> 00:00:12.019 Christmas. And the picture was sent to the daddy 00:00:12.019 --> 00:00:15.880 of the three little boys who are in the picture. 00:00:17.260 --> 00:00:24.800 And a lovely mama, a beautiful mama, Anna Lou. 00:00:26.199 --> 00:00:31.929 And here are the three sons. Young Timothy, Jeffrey, 00:00:32.310 --> 00:00:38.130 Stephen, and oh, they're so proud of their daddy. 00:00:39.310 --> 00:00:44.390 Major Hart Armstrong. There's a Christmas tree 00:00:44.390 --> 00:00:46.189 that was taken in the living room of the home. 00:00:48.670 --> 00:00:53.590 Oh, the smile on their faces. Their faces are 00:00:53.590 --> 00:00:57.850 radiant. And you can just imagine what the... 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:02.539 Daddy felt when he got this picture of a little 00:01:02.539 --> 00:01:09.379 family back home. But you know, one never knows 00:01:09.379 --> 00:01:15.700 what tomorrow is going to bring. No one is immune 00:01:15.700 --> 00:01:20.819 to tragedy. Always know that. There isn't a person 00:01:20.819 --> 00:01:26.000 in the whole world who is immune to sorrow. And 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:30.810 late in April, Major Hart Armstrong hurried from 00:01:30.810 --> 00:01:33.969 Vietnam to the bedside of his wife who was injured 00:01:33.969 --> 00:01:38.349 by a tornado which destroyed the house where 00:01:38.349 --> 00:01:44.969 she was visiting. She died shortly after he arrived 00:01:44.969 --> 00:01:52.870 home from Vietnam. And this is his story. This 00:01:52.870 --> 00:01:58.549 is his testimony to... God's faithfulness, and 00:01:58.549 --> 00:02:04.750 I give it to you word for word, just as he has 00:02:04.750 --> 00:02:10.870 given it. Life is a tapestry woven by the master 00:02:10.870 --> 00:02:17.710 weaver. We look on the underside, and we question 00:02:17.710 --> 00:02:22.930 the ravelings, the peculiar pattern, the color 00:02:22.930 --> 00:02:29.599 formations. but God looks on the top. The pattern 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:36.379 unfolds beautifully, as with perfect skill. The 00:02:36.379 --> 00:02:41.039 weaver works. He knows how the completed tapestry 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:45.900 will look. A stroke of bold color has suddenly 00:02:45.900 --> 00:02:51.460 come across my life. A heartache, a heartbreak. 00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:59.259 My darling is suddenly and permanently gone, 00:02:59.379 --> 00:03:05.520 so young, the mother of my three children. While 00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:10.259 separated by 13 ,000 miles, the events began 00:03:10.259 --> 00:03:13.919 that permitted her glorious entry to her home, 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:17.180 her heavenly home, and into the presence of her 00:03:17.180 --> 00:03:22.400 master. A tumult of questions and doubts came 00:03:22.400 --> 00:03:28.080 tumbling into my mind. How am I to care for my 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:35.699 three sons? The mother is gone. How do you tell 00:03:35.699 --> 00:03:40.280 them that their mother will never return? How 00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:46.759 do you tell three youngsters that their mother 00:03:46.759 --> 00:03:52.819 is gone? That she'll not be coming home today? 00:03:54.860 --> 00:03:58.199 Should I stay in the military service, itself 00:03:58.199 --> 00:04:03.680 an occupation marked by instability? What can 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:09.020 the future hold but problem after problem? The 00:04:09.020 --> 00:04:13.800 turbulence cannot be imagined, only experienced. 00:04:15.340 --> 00:04:19.959 Only those who've gone through such an hour of 00:04:19.959 --> 00:04:28.060 darkness can understand. I felt suddenly plunged 00:04:28.060 --> 00:04:33.439 into dark, deep, stormy waters, waters that were 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:37.939 bitter cold. I felt as Peter in Matthew the 14th 00:04:37.939 --> 00:04:41.600 chapter. When Peter looked around at the high 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:45.399 waves, he was terrified and he began to sink. 00:04:45.959 --> 00:04:52.740 My quiet time seemed void. My prayers so empty. 00:04:53.709 --> 00:05:00.449 Praying almost seemed futile. The Lord unhearing. 00:05:01.329 --> 00:05:08.129 As Peter, I cried, save me, Lord. Please, Lord, 00:05:08.310 --> 00:05:12.970 save me. And then to continue Peter's experience, 00:05:13.269 --> 00:05:19.009 Jesus reached out his hand and rescued me. Oh, 00:05:19.009 --> 00:05:25.779 man of little faith. Jesus said, why did you 00:05:25.779 --> 00:05:31.939 doubt? Why did you ever doubt me? The waters 00:05:31.939 --> 00:05:35.879 were still dark and swift, but I wasn't swept 00:05:35.879 --> 00:05:40.740 off my feet. The bottom was solid, and as the 00:05:40.740 --> 00:05:44.620 waters came to my chin, I found a firm, strong 00:05:44.620 --> 00:05:48.620 hand leading me safe to the other side. And God 00:05:48.620 --> 00:05:52.819 made me realize that I had turned my focus and 00:05:52.819 --> 00:05:57.939 attention to the problems and from my relationship 00:05:57.939 --> 00:06:03.639 to him. I was concentrating on the wrong things. 00:06:03.819 --> 00:06:08.680 The problems seemed even bigger than my God. 00:06:10.040 --> 00:06:12.660 I was concerned with what I was going to do. 00:06:13.060 --> 00:06:16.480 What about the problems? And not standing in 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:22.699 awe. at what God could do with them. How pitifully 00:06:22.699 --> 00:06:28.819 natural. We're all so human. The strongest of 00:06:28.819 --> 00:06:35.740 us is so human. Whenever a crisis arises, we 00:06:35.740 --> 00:06:38.540 immediately begin casting about among our feeble 00:06:38.540 --> 00:06:42.939 human resources to see how we can solve it. We 00:06:42.939 --> 00:06:47.160 turn to man. We turn to His methods instead of 00:06:47.160 --> 00:06:51.800 to God and His miracles. As the children of Israel, 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:56.959 we have not learned the lesson. And after the 00:06:56.959 --> 00:07:01.699 miraculous escape and repeated miracles, we still 00:07:01.699 --> 00:07:08.240 are prone to doubt God in the desert. I was not 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:12.980 applying an oft -taught lesson, one that I had 00:07:12.980 --> 00:07:17.519 memorized. in Colossians, the second chapter, 00:07:17.740 --> 00:07:21.980 the sixth verse. And now, just as you trusted 00:07:21.980 --> 00:07:26.899 Christ to save you, trust him for each day's 00:07:26.899 --> 00:07:32.980 problems. Live in vital communion and union with 00:07:32.980 --> 00:07:36.899 him. And so I began to wait patiently on him, 00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:42.629 realizing the truth of the 25th Psalm. he will 00:07:42.629 --> 00:07:47.449 teach the ways that are right and best to those 00:07:47.449 --> 00:07:51.709 who humbly turn to him how blessed the experience 00:07:51.709 --> 00:07:58.029 if we will only be still and know that he is 00:07:58.029 --> 00:08:07.750 god be still there is such power there is such 00:08:07.750 --> 00:08:19.620 strength in Be still and know that he is God. 00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:25.560 The message came through strong and clear. Trust 00:08:25.560 --> 00:08:31.740 me. Commit your problem to me. Just stay in vital 00:08:31.740 --> 00:08:36.779 union with me. Oh, what a burden was lifted. 00:08:38.039 --> 00:08:41.159 Tumult of doubt and worry was replaced with promises 00:08:41.159 --> 00:08:45.299 and assurances of provision. Hasty plans needed 00:08:45.299 --> 00:08:49.919 to be remade. The decisions guided by human logic 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:53.840 were not necessarily the paths in which the Lord 00:08:53.840 --> 00:08:58.100 wanted to lead. Jeremiah, the 29th chapter, the 00:08:58.100 --> 00:09:01.100 11th verse, was the most precious promise given. 00:09:01.980 --> 00:09:05.980 For I know the plans I am planning for you, declareth 00:09:05.980 --> 00:09:10.429 Jehovah. Plans of welfare and not of calamity 00:09:10.429 --> 00:09:16.909 to give you a future and a hope. And again, God 00:09:16.909 --> 00:09:21.309 asserted himself vitally and personally interested 00:09:21.309 --> 00:09:25.110 in every department of my life. For the first 00:09:25.110 --> 00:09:31.230 time, I realized how vitally interested he was 00:09:31.230 --> 00:09:37.529 in every detail of my life. Time, place, duration, 00:09:37.889 --> 00:09:45.370 occupation, purpose. I was personal to him. My 00:09:45.370 --> 00:09:51.769 needs were personal to him. Put me to the test. 00:09:52.169 --> 00:09:57.250 Over and over again he kept saying to me, put 00:09:57.250 --> 00:10:04.129 me to the test. Oh, put God to the test. and 00:10:04.129 --> 00:10:08.730 see how kind he is. See for yourself the way 00:10:08.730 --> 00:10:12.769 his mercy showered down on all who trust in him. 00:10:14.649 --> 00:10:20.769 Then suddenly, each problem now became just another 00:10:20.769 --> 00:10:25.629 puzzle for the Lord to solve. I committed. I 00:10:25.629 --> 00:10:29.210 learned how to commit each day to him, how to 00:10:29.210 --> 00:10:33.370 commit each problem to him. It has become a joy 00:10:33.370 --> 00:10:37.730 to anticipate the next difficulty, excitingly 00:10:37.730 --> 00:10:40.529 to stand on tiptoe and see how he's going to 00:10:40.529 --> 00:10:46.570 work it out. Oh, for the Christians, death should 00:10:46.570 --> 00:10:51.490 not be a tragedy, but a triumphant event to look 00:10:51.490 --> 00:10:54.409 forward to. It's only the beginning of the joyous 00:10:54.409 --> 00:10:56.889 life of the future that we can begin to experience 00:10:56.889 --> 00:11:01.500 here on Earth. It's not the end. is the beginning. 00:11:02.620 --> 00:11:06.919 A Christian should have a homesickness to return 00:11:06.919 --> 00:11:10.080 to his only true and permanent home that makes 00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:13.879 a freshman's homesickness at Christmas time pale 00:11:13.879 --> 00:11:19.320 by comparison. I feel a twinge of jealousy because 00:11:19.320 --> 00:11:23.360 my loved one has gone first and is now seeing 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:26.879 our master face to face. How wonderful to be 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:30.820 getting the answers firsthand. to the questions 00:11:30.820 --> 00:11:35.860 that we have to continue to ponder and discuss. 00:11:37.340 --> 00:11:43.240 My three boys and I realize that to want her 00:11:43.240 --> 00:11:47.840 back is only selfish on our part. We must admit 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:51.340 that the root of this desire is to please us, 00:11:51.399 --> 00:11:59.039 a selfish desire. A very selfish. very selfish 00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:04.159 desire to make our earthly burden a little lighter. 00:12:05.659 --> 00:12:09.419 When you truly love someone, you want only the 00:12:09.419 --> 00:12:12.980 very best for them. Nothing but the finest will 00:12:12.980 --> 00:12:18.399 do. Could there be anything finer or better than 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:24.299 to be sitting at the Lord's feet? No. To have 00:12:24.299 --> 00:12:28.590 her back, if it were possible, would be robbing 00:12:28.590 --> 00:12:33.149 her of the greatest joy our eternal soul can 00:12:33.149 --> 00:12:38.769 experience. What joy she must be experiencing. 00:12:40.509 --> 00:12:45.070 Our poor little mind cannot begin to fathom her 00:12:45.070 --> 00:12:53.470 joys. Think of it in the presence of the master. 00:12:55.600 --> 00:12:59.860 Faith having become a reality. While recently 00:12:59.860 --> 00:13:01.919 driving through the beautiful green countryside 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:08.639 and Kentucky horse farms, I momentarily longed 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:12.080 for her to enjoy the beauty with me. But the 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:16.500 thought quickly followed, how can I wish her 00:13:16.500 --> 00:13:23.279 here to see such temporary beauty? when I'm longing 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:27.299 myself for the beauty that she is seeing. In 00:13:27.299 --> 00:13:31.639 God's concept of time, she will have only been 00:13:31.639 --> 00:13:36.019 there a few minutes and will turn to see us enter 00:13:36.019 --> 00:13:38.759 heaven's gates. And then another thought crossed 00:13:38.759 --> 00:13:44.200 my mind. I loved her so much. She is missing 00:13:44.200 --> 00:13:49.759 so much of my love. But can my love or any human 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:54.940 love That love that she is now receiving, no. 00:13:55.940 --> 00:14:04.000 Our human love is beggarly by comparison. Some 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:08.259 may foolishly ask, how can a loving God take 00:14:08.259 --> 00:14:13.879 a mother from a family? How can a loving God 00:14:13.879 --> 00:14:24.059 leave three young sons without a mother? But 00:14:24.059 --> 00:14:30.480 we're told in the Psalms that precious in the 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:33.340 sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:38.600 God does not take lightly or lightly permit the 00:14:38.600 --> 00:14:42.059 death of one of his own. He is more vitally interested 00:14:42.059 --> 00:14:44.659 and concerned in the lives of his children than 00:14:44.659 --> 00:14:50.919 we can ever imagine. What more loving deed can 00:14:50.919 --> 00:14:53.539 a father do than call one of his children permanently 00:14:53.539 --> 00:14:58.100 home to him? Again, we must honestly admit that 00:14:58.100 --> 00:15:01.740 our thoughts and our desires are rooted in our 00:15:01.740 --> 00:15:08.820 own selfishness. Oh, sure. The refiner's fire 00:15:08.820 --> 00:15:14.340 is hot. And as the dross is skimmed away, I can 00:15:14.340 --> 00:15:19.289 understand Peter's urging. in 1 Peter, the fourth 00:15:19.289 --> 00:15:24.409 chapter, that we be not surprised at the fiery 00:15:24.409 --> 00:15:28.350 trial that has come to test us, but to rejoice. 00:15:29.690 --> 00:15:34.169 It proves God is concerned and that he's patiently 00:15:34.169 --> 00:15:38.370 working his master plan in our lives. Though 00:15:38.370 --> 00:15:44.750 we might not always understand, we can have faith 00:15:44.750 --> 00:15:54.200 in God. and move out confidently. I have read 00:15:54.200 --> 00:16:03.759 you the words of Major Hart Armstrong after the 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:16.929 death of his wife. Tragedy or... I can give you 00:16:16.929 --> 00:16:22.149 the answer if you tell me in whom you have faith. 00:16:26.450 --> 00:16:32.669 Believe me, it's not what happens to you that's 00:16:32.669 --> 00:16:38.789 so important. It's what you do with that thing 00:16:38.789 --> 00:16:43.250 after it happens to you. The world may call it 00:16:43.250 --> 00:16:48.559 a tragedy. The world may say it's an injustice. 00:16:51.019 --> 00:17:00.899 The world may say it's all wrong. And yet, life 00:17:00.899 --> 00:17:07.660 is a tapestry woven by the master weaver. We 00:17:07.660 --> 00:17:13.819 look on the underside and we question the ravelings. 00:17:15.240 --> 00:17:22.519 But God sees the finished tapestry. One thing 00:17:22.519 --> 00:17:32.559 I know, he never makes a mistake. And so, today 00:17:32.559 --> 00:17:40.559 again, I give him thanks for every stone that 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:46.930 bruised my feet. For all the heartbreak, all 00:17:46.930 --> 00:17:52.710 the heartache, all the sorrows, all the fruitless 00:17:52.710 --> 00:17:55.670 years, all the hopes that I've lived in vain, 00:17:55.869 --> 00:18:02.049 I do give thanks. For now I know that these were 00:18:02.049 --> 00:18:05.789 the things that helped me grow.