The Amish Voice 5
One day, when my late husband was draw-
ing closer and closer to death, I was watch-
ing him and our son playing in the living
room. Our little boy was just shy of three
year's old, and he was oblivious to the in-
evitable future without his daddy. But I
was seeing their play and hearing their
laughter and watching my once healthy
husband stretch out skinny arms to hold
his son.
Suddenly, tears came and I had to work
hard to
c h o k e
back a
long, heart
- r e n d i n g
sob.
I
c o u l d n ' t
take
it
anymore. I
couldn't sit by and watch this cruel de-
struction of our once happy family. I hur-
ried from the room to hide my over-
whelming emotions from both of them. I
didn't want to ruin their most precious
moment. Who knew, after all, how many
fun moments were left?
I went to the bedroom I shared with this
wonderful husband and father and began
to make the bed. I struggled to control my-
self, but halfway around the bed, an enor-
mous weakness hit me at the knees and I
sank to the floor. I pressed my face into the
blankets to keep my cries from reaching
the living room and I finally let my fears
and anger out to God.
I cried over and over again "Why, Lord? I
see You're going to take Jim home soon.
But why? Why destroy me and my son?
Don't You know how much this will hurt
my little boy? Don't You know how much
You're tearing my heart out? Why?" The
dam broke and all the repressed emotions
rushed to the surface. My heart broke in
two. My spirit and courage flagged and I
was a spent being.
And then, He spoke to my heart.
Dee, I know how you feel. I know. I gave up
my own Son so that you will see Jim again
someday. I gave Him up so you will never
say good-bye to your loved ones again."
He reminded me that His heart broke in
two the day he turned His back on His own
Son. The day He let His Son know sin. The
day the veil was torn and all of humanity
was set free for the asking. The day His Son
bled. Cried. Pleaded for mercy. The day
humanity mocked and flogged and pierced
His Son's frail flesh. In that moment, I
knew He knew my pain. That moment
changed me.
At the Easter season we remember Christ's
sacrifice and celebrate His resurrection,
but today we can say thank you. Today we
can remember that our Father knows...He
knows...and He understands.
Colossians chapter 2 tells us, when you
were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you
were incapable of responding to God. God
brought you alive—right along with Christ!
Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate
wiped clean, that old arrest warrant can-
celed and nailed to Christ's cross.
I Know How You Feel
—Written by Dee Yoder
tanic's plates became brittle at icy tem-
peratures and may have fractured after
simply bumping the iceberg. Thus there
was a major flaw in the construction of
the steel. It should have been made
more flexible, less brittle, so that it
would bend and give rather than break.
It has been said that the Ark was made
by amateurs and the Titanic was made
by experts. The difference is that the
amateurs were guided by God and the
experts made a fatal mistake. Hundreds
of people put their trust in the engineer-
ing genius and production of man.
"Thus
saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that
trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his
arm, and whose heart departeth from the
LORD. . . Blessed is the man that trusteth
in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD
is." Jeremiah 17:5,7.
4. Official inquiries determined that the
Titanic was traveling too fast for the
known icy conditions. The excessive
speed seemed reasonable. They wanted
to make good time and they believed
that the ship was invincible.
"There is a
way which seemeth right unto a man, but
the end thereof are the ways of death."
Proverbs 14:12.
5. This drama of the sea illustrates the un-
certainty of life and our need to be ready
to stand before our Maker and Judge.
When hundreds of very wealthy people
initially boarded the Titanic an immi-
nent death was a thought that was not
even entertained. We never know when
God will call us to pass from time into
eternity.
"And I will say to my soul, Soul,
thou hast much goods laid up for many
years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be
merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool,
this night thy soul shall be required of
thee: then whose shall those things be,
which thou hast provided?" Luke 12:19-
20.
6. Just as the great pleasure ship struck an
iceberg and sank, so also this great
world, with all its inhabitants, is slowly
sinking into the cold grip of death.
"And
as it is appointed unto men once to die,
but after this the judgment....For the
wages of sin is death." Hebrews 9:27 and
Romans 6:23.
7. One of the problems that resulted in
such loss of life was that the Titanic was
poorly equipped for such a disaster.
There were not enough life boats for the
number of people on board. There was
only enough room for relatively few to
be saved. When it comes to the salvation
of sinful men, there is but ONE LIFE-
BOAT, none other than our Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ. God's Lifeboat, unlike
the small boats on the Titanic, has ample
room for all those who recognize the
great danger that they are in and who
put their trust in God's only Saviour and
what He did for them on the cross.
Those who refuse God's one Lifeboat
will perish.
I, even I, am the LORD, and beside Me there
is no Savior....For God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not per-
ish, but have everlasting life. Isaiah 43:11
and John 3:16.
And this is the record, that God hath given
to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
He that hath the Son hath life; and he that
hath not the Son of God hath not life. 1 John
5:11-12.
My friend, as you travel on life's journey, it
is possible for you to know for sure that
you will arrive safely on eternity's shore.
Your
decision
now will determine your
future
destiny
. God has provided the per-
fect LIFEBOAT for you.
This article was adapted from two gospel tracts:
1)
The Titanic Encounter
by George Genes, The
Tract League, 2627 Elmridge Dr., NW, Grand
Rapids, MI 49544-1390, Tract #244; 2)
Titanic
Tragedy
by Erik Hollander, Living Waters, Box
1172, Bellflower, CA 90706, Tract #242
—Titanic—
“Continued from Back Page”