Betty Hayes
On a warm summer day, on the 16th of August in the year 1934, near the great Mississippi River in Memphis, Tennessee, God gave Earnest Lee and Betty, a beautiful little girl, whose heart would grow to touch the lives of many. That little girl was named Betty.
God creates some people who are to become very important in the world, and God creates some people who to be very special in the world. Now some would say it is better to be important than to be special, but I think when we come to the end of our days, we’re not looking back to see how important we were, but rather were we special in the lives of others. I want you to know that Betty was special in the lives of others. When I think of her, I immediately see a sparkle in her eye. Even when she told me she was a little down, she would try to say something encouraging to me.
When death is staring at us in the face, we do not usually take great pride in our degrees from Harvard or Yale or in our position as executive vice president, nearly as much as we do from hearing a child saying I love so much because of all that you did for me and I’m going to miss you.
Betty Hayes was not created to be somebody iwhose name would cover Time magazine . She’s done something greater than that by being on the cover of our hearts. There have been several testimonies of how this meek and humble woman has had a tremendous impact in the lives of others.
She may have been small in stature, but she has been huge in the size of her heart. Her children described her as woman who had the gift of being a mother to everybody. Betty carried around a huge heart of compassion. She did not have to know you to care about you. She blessed unlimited lives in her job as a nurse’s aid. The Spirit of Christ truly dwelt within her heart. Once you started talking to Betty, you either better have a plan of escape in advance or be prepared for a long phone conversation. The lady enjoyed talking. So you should never call her on the phone if you were in a hurry to do something else.
One of the things that made Betty incredibly special was the enormous amount of support and encouragement that she gave to those around her. She knew what it was like to carry enormous personal burdens in life, and yet still managed to smile and to cheer those around her. She was a woman who looked beyond her trials to find someway to brighten somebody else’s day. She was an incredible special woman. None of us imagined at the start of the year 2006, that it would conclude in this matter.
But nothing that happened to Betty surprised God because God was active in Betty, long before Betty became active in God. For the Scripture tells us in Psalm 139:13-16
[13] For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. [14] I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. [15] My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, [16] your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
God knew that Betty was going to be special from the moment she entered the world because He intended for her to be special. But God also knew that he had ordained a specific number of days for her to live, and that he fully expected her to return to Him.
We on the other hand, simply take it for granted way to often that we will always have each other around, and we fail to appreciate the incredible special people that God places in our lives. We even make the mistake of thinking that we ourselves have an indefinite number of days ahead of us that we can control and determine, but I can tell you with certainty, unless Jesus comes first, we shall all surely die and in times and methods not of our own choosing.
Betty was blessed, because she recognized that death is a certain reality for all of us and it can hit us at any moment. The Scriptures tell us that there is a way that seems right to a person, but at the end of it is death. If we are all living in order that we might some day die, then we should do a reality check to find out if we’re going to be prepared when we get to our final destination.
If we’re living simply for status, money, degrees or fame, keep in mind none of these things go out with us when we leave this world. They may make you important, but they won’t make special. Our money will be left in the bank, our degrees will hang on a wall, our fame will be forgotten, and our status will not impress Jesus who is the ultimate Judge of everything.
Let’s take a moment and look back over the life of Betty Hayes to see how to avoid living in vain and discover why we can thank God for her.
Betty fell in love with James and began a journey that would take her to the altar in 1955 and span 51 years together. Praise God for her faithfulness and her strength. Out of the marriage came three of the children whom she could not have loved more. Here was a mother who would have gladly laid down her life for her family. And she did it time and time again as she expressed her love to them in so many special and unique ways. Between her and her husband James, Betty was the disciplinarian of the two for the kids. She did her job well, small as she was.
She also knew that it’s relationships that truly matter in life. One of the gifts she appreciated most in life, was simply receiving a portrait with her three children on it together. That was what she considered real genuine love.
Betty had a heart for her mother and wanted to serve her in a way that was pleasing to the Lord. She and I spent quite a bit of time working on legal matters to help her mother maintain her benefits. It was easy for Betty to some times become upset and nervous when legal terms got involved. But we worked things out.
She was an interesting contrast between meek and mild, and yet at the same time being a fighter within her heart. There was a rich tenacity in Betty, that you had to pay attention to see. You could see in her battle with cancer. You could see it in her battles in her faith. She wanted so hard to do the Lord’s will in her life.
We all have some kind of foundation that we’re trusting in. Betty had a foundation in her life that sustained her through the times that were good, and the times that were hard. That faith was found in Jesus Christ.
For she began to understand what Jesus meant when he said ,, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. [25] For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. [26] What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
Betty realized she needed a Savior. She made the decision to start living her life for Christ. Glenville New Life Community Church would not be what it is today without her faith, her life, her sacrifices and her services. Every church is built upon people who can do a job and remain in the background when needed. Betty never was one to trumpet what she was doing, but she served the Lord as he called her to serve.
She was faithful in her giving. She believed in her paying her tithes, her per capita and giving to special offerings. She helped with the Handicap Access ramp and was delighted for her mom to be able to enter the church in her chair. She helped with the van fund, the pew fund, the air conditioning fund, and the New Life Center. Her giving was rooted in her faith in the Lord.
She was faithful in her learning. She loved her Tuesday afternoon bible study group. She was an eager and avid student of the Scriptures. She was there to encourage you with a sermon, and if you said something she did not understand, she was certainly going to ask you about it.
She was faithful in her service. She uplifted the hearts of many of the saints as she, Pastor Toby and the visiting teams went into the hospitals and homes of others. She offered encouragement to many of the saints in their darker hours of life. She insisted on being one of the prayer warriors for she believed in the power of prayer. I don’t know how many times I heard her utter the words, “I don’t know if I can do it, but if you think you can use me, I’m willing to try.”
It was that spirit of being willing to try that caused her to be voted in as a deacon and as an elder of this church. There are so many roles she played, and groups she’s been a part of since her being here at this church. She really took her role as being a part of the body of Christ seriously. She was one on whom we could depend.
She was faithful in trying to bring others to faith in Christ. She was constantly inviting others to come to her church. She’d tell us, pray with me for so and so because I’ve got them real close to coming to church. She wanted to see others find the life in Christ that she had found.
This very special lady, whom God has created, is now back in the arms of God. None of us expected this day would come so soon. Betty was more prepared for this day, than many of us are. The last time she and I talked, she reminded me of Jacob, when he heard the news that Joseph was still alive. The Bible says of Jacob, he revived himself and said I will go see my son before I die. The last Sunday Betty was at Glenville, she wasn’t looking that well, but she wanted to be in church. The next time I saw her was in the hospital.
She said Pastor Rick, it’s good to see you. It was though she pulled up this energy and revived herself as a soldier does in reporting to an officer in battle. Then she said, “I want you to know that I’m not afraid. I’m ready to go. Now I’m not shouting hooray to leave, but I want you to know that I am ready.” You see, Betty knew in whom she believed, and she was persuaded that God was able to keep her in life as well as in death. She looked death and the face and declared her victory through Jesus Christ. It always hurts to lose a special gift, but its never wrong to lose that gift back into the hands of God. We’ve lost a great sister, a great warrior and a great saint and that’s reason to grieve, but we have not lost her spirit. For to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
For we as believers have the promise from Jesus himself when He said John 14:1-3 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. [2] In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. [3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
WE are never without hope. For God gives us a message of encouragement and hope. It says in Psalm 116:15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. God knows something about death and its purposes that we do not. Betty was one of the special saints of God. God said her death was precious in His sight. God knows that Betty’s death was not in vain. We may want an answer from God, and that’s okay. Maybe it will lead us to acknowledge who God is and what God is expecting of us. Betty knew God created her, God walked with her, and God called her to a place prepared for her .
In the bible it says "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
Do you realize God loves us all, but death will be the final separator between those who are living for Christ and those who are not. It’s not matter of who was good and who was bad. We all were bad, and God wants to give us all the same chance he gave to Betty . If we do not know Christ, we are condemned to eternal death.
Sometimes we don’t understand when we lose the special people in our lives. But somehow like the apostle Paul, Betty Hayes could declare “the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
Jesus has gone forth to prepare a place for each of us. But like Betty , we must make a choice. None of us know the day nor the hour when we shall leave this world. Christ has died on our behalf that we might have life. It’s as simple as confessing our sins, our yielding our lives to him. For in the end, the only decision that will matter is what did we do with Christ. For only what’s done for Christ will last. Her decision made her not only special, but also important. For her fame of eternity in heaven will be remembered for generations after the important people of this world have long since been wiped from the pages of history.
To those who do not know Jesus Christ, Betty Hayes will only be a memory. It will be a great memory, but still just a memory. For those who do know Christ, Betty is waiting to meet us. For the word of God clearly states, " Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men and women who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.
According to the Lord’s own words, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left at the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and
the dead in Christ will rise first.
After that, we who are still alive and are left, will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. Our God is faithful.
