“I Got You”: A Testimony of Healing, Purpose, and Knowing Jesus for Yourself

This week, I had the honor of sitting down with Armentha Hackett—an incredible woman of faith with a powerful story of survival, healing, and a deeper understanding of who Jesus really is.

“You’re Not Going Home.”

Armentha noticed a shortness of breath, but chalked it up to a cold. When she finally went to urgent care, they rushed her straight to the emergency room.

“They asked me what I knew about oxygen levels. I said, ‘Normal’s like 98, 99%.’
 The nurse said, ‘You’re at 62.’”

Armentha was admitted to the ICU. What followed were 45 days in the hospital, a battle against pneumonia, the flu, and a full-body shutdown caused by a respiratory infection. Doctors didn’t expect her to make it.

“I was hooked up to everything… I didn’t even know how bad it was. But I kept hearing this still, small voice:
 ‘I’m here. I got you.’”

It started with what she thought was just a cold. But God had a far greater plan—and presence—in what unfolded.

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Transcript

Jan: Hello, everyone, and welcome to Just Talking About Jesus. My guest today is our Armentha Hackett. Welcome.

Armentha: Thank you.

Jan: So happy to have you here.

Tell me a little bit about your testimony.

Have you always just had a faith in God, or has it just been growing since you were a little girl, or was there a special moment in your life?

Armentha: Well,

there have been moments,

you know, looking back over my life, when I can understand that he was with me because I was brought up in church.

But a year ago,

I had an incident. Really didn't think much of it. I had shortness of breath,

but I had a cold. So I'm thinking, okay, it'll go away. Well,

it increased, and I ended up going to. I called the doctor and they said, go to either emergency room or for emergency care. So I'm like, oh, I go to urgent care.

I don't want to go to emergency room. Well, I went to urgent care. They sent me immediately to the emergency room.

Okay.

So I'm like,

okay.

So I'm asking the lady, is it really necessary? She said, yes. What do you know about your oxygen levels? I said, well, I know something about it. She said, what you think your normal range is?

I said, 98, 99, 100%.

She said, you're at 62. I say, oh,

okay. We do need to go see somebody.

Well, make a long story short, I was in Hospital for 45 days in the ICU.

Jan: Oh, my.

Armentha: Yeah.

Yes.

But I tell you, God was in the whole entire thing because I had a doctor,

the emergency room doctor, the ICU doctor. He came in and he said, well,

you're not going home. I'm like, okay.

He said, and you're very sick. And I'm looking at him like, what you talking about? Because I didn't feel very sick. Like, I just said, shortness of breath. He said, you got more than that and you're going to be with us.

I'm like, okay. He said, but I'm going to take real good care of you.

Like,

okay.

Well,

again, to make a long story short, I'm hooked up to all of these things, not even aware really of what's going on. And he kept coming in saying, how are you doing today?

And like, I'm okay. He said, okay, we're taking care of you. We're going to get this soft. I have the best specialist on it.

45 days later, I was released,

actually out into a nursing home.

I was only there three days, though. But during that whole course of that thing, I kept hearing, I'm here with you. I got this because at some point I came to myself and I'm like, why am I in the hospital?

And I kind of panic.

But that still small voice said, I'm here.

Don't worry about it. I got you.

And then I realized you've been here a long time.

I'm like, what day is it? And when they told me, I'm like,

okay.

So throughout that whole ordeal,

I knew he was with me and he was guiding every step of.

And when I went back to see the doctors, you know how you get out, and they say, we want to see you in two weeks, three weeks,

every one of them said to me, I needed to see you because I don't know if you understood how you looked in the hospital. I'm like, no, I didn't have a mirror.

I don't know.

They said, we didn't think you was going to make it. He did. He said, I threw everything I had at you, the infection control doctor, including this kitchen sink,

because I didn't think you were going to make it. He said, not only did you make it, he said, I'm looking at you and you look good. I said, well, to God be the glory,

because it was only him who pulled me through. That's what he said. It had to be. He said, because I didn't think you were going to make it. I didn't think you would be able to take the treatment.

And you were in bad shape.

Like, okay,

what was.

Jan: Actually. So you had an infection or you had. It was heart problems. What exactly happened?

Armentha: Well, come to find out, I had pneumonia and I had the flu,

which developed into a respiratory infection which began to shut down everything in my body.

And I had no idea.

Jan: Wow.

Armentha: And so they had to bring me back from everything. And I'm like, okay. Because I'm like, why am I seeing a kidney doctor? Well, this happened. Why am I seeing this specialist?

Well, a whole bunch of stuff happened as a result of it.

I'm like, okay. So that's why they kept saying you and bad ****.

Jan: But our God, the healer, was right by your side.

Armentha: He was there the whole time. I tell you, it pays to know his word because His Word began to come up and speak.

And I learned from that experience even more, a deeper faith in him realizing that when he says, my word is alive and active,

it is alive and it is active and it is spirit and it is life. Because that's what kept me going through that thing, was His Word.

It will come up as needed. Okay. I took this to the cross. I'm like, okay, I handled this already.

I got you.

And that was.

That helped me through that whole thing because, you know, doctors come in and say what they say,

but you better know what he said.

And I thank God that I knew what he said while they were saying what they were saying.

Jan: Yeah.

And takes being in the word a lot to be able to know those scriptures, you know, to be holding them in your heart so that they're right there at the ready when you need them.

Armentha: Yes.

When he says, if my word remains in you and you remain in me,

it needs to be there. But then he told us, I stamped it on your mind and inscribed it on your heart. That's going to cause that inward change within you.

And that's when you really know that that inward change is taking place.

Because we say we have faith,

but you don't know where your faith is until something happens.

Jan: Exactly.

Armentha: Okay.

Jan: Yeah.

Armentha: What do you really believe?

Jan: Yeah. And so now you have a new testimony to be able to share.

Armentha: Yes, I do. Then this would actually be the first time I've shared the testimony.

Jan: Oh, wonderful.

Armentha: Yeah.

Jan: Yeah.

Well, there'll be a lot of people that be able to listen to this,

to. To be encouraged by that, to know that if God did that for you, he can do that for me also.

Armentha: Absolutely. He says I'm no respectful person.

Jan: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what kinds of things that you. Besides this, which was pretty huge, what other things that have brought you deeper in your faith?

Armentha: Well,

the more I get into his word and really allow his word to work on those areas in my life that sometime I wasn't ready to let go or even knew I needed to let go of.

The more I got into the word, the more those things began to come up. And I was like, good Lord, how much is in here?

But you feel like you live a lifetime, and it's stuff that we think we let go,

but we've just buried.

And when that word began to dig it up, I had to deal with it right then and there because it wasn't putting. No, I wasn't gonna put it back.

And so I began to deal with those things. And when he said, he heals you emotionally, he began to heal. Emotions I didn't even know needed healing.

But when he did, I'm saying,

wow, I really didn't understand how deep they were.

You know, you think you've forgiven people, and you just say, yeah, I forgive you, but you pushed it aside. But when he really begins to deal with you with forgiveness,

you really will forgive when he's Finished.

So I'm a fan.

Jan: And isn't it great that it's because he knows how great a gift forgiveness is,

you know, that he wants us to understand that just how precious a gift that is. Even though.

Yeah. Is it hard?

Course it's hard to do. But he knows what's on the other.

Armentha: Side,

what he began to do with me. Because it was some point. I'm like, do I really? I understand Your word said, if I don't forgive them,

you don't forgive me. He just took me before the cross. He said, if I can forgive those that did this to me, and I only did good.

And I still said at my last breath, father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

You can't do this. This is a light thing.

I'm like, you know what? You got a point.

And so now when things can get hard, I'm like,

I remember the cross.

I remember his substitutionary sacrifice for me.

And it helps me to let stuff go a lot quicker and not stuff not even come. You know, sometimes you deal with different people in different situations. Like, that's your issue.

That's not my issue. I'm not taking that off.

Yeah, you really learn to walk in that grace and mercy through this process.

But it's a learning process.

But it's a good process.

Jan: And every time you get through one thing, you know, he's always got something else for us.

Armentha: Always guess something else. It's like, okay, okay, you got that lesson down.

Jan: Let's see what we can do with the next one.

Armentha: Here comes the next one. You're right. It's like, okay, I don't want to repeat nothing, so let's walk it through.

Jan: I think that's why he's our ultimate counselor, right?

Armentha: Absolutely. Absolutely. And you learn also to go to him first. I mean, we talk to people. It's the human side of us.

And I'm like, wait a minute. You said the Holy Spirit was my counselor. I'm gonna talk to you first because, number one, you just fear the truth. So I know I'm gonna get truth from you.

I really don't need somebody's opinion right now.

I need truth. Is it me or what is it?

You know, deal with me regarding whatever.

So I need truth. I'm learning to really go before the Holy Spirit in everything.

Not just some things, but in everything.

Jan: What have been some things that you feel like when God's shown you these things?

Have there been things that you've been able to pass on to your children or your family? That are helping them as well.

Armentha: Oh, absolutely. I know because I had dealt with cancer for 10 years,

and they watched me go through that and come through on the other side.

And so now their faith in God is strengthening. Said, mom, we know God can do anything. I said, I need you to trust him in all things. Not just some things,

all things. I've been able to share with a few young ladies that I mentor,

you know, as they're going through their stuff. I was like, listen, it's in the Word. Whatever you going through is in the Word.

He did not leave you out here just to guess and wonder. It's in the Word. Whatever the situation, circumstance is. But you got to learn to trust him and you got to know what he's done for you through salvation because he gave us so much that you should be walking in now,

not later, right now.

Just go through the process. You can't skip no part of the process because you need every part of it.

And everybody's life experience is going to be different because we've all been through different things. They may be similar, but he walks us individually. That's why I love him through what we need from him to bring us to the place that he wants us to be.

And it's for his good pleasure.

Jan: And isn't it interesting how many stories,

different people in the Bible that, I mean, yeah, there's similar threads through their lives,

but there's also so many things that are just individual people, you know, that. That we can look through. We can find. We can find who we are in some character someplace in the Bible.

Armentha: We can definitely find ourselves in there and go, wow, okay,

so when you say it's nothing new under the sun, it really isn't. Okay,

I can't get. I can get through this. Yeah, we have a better covenant. Yes, you can.

Jesus done already went through it. You can do. Do it.

Absolutely.

Jan: What are some of your favorite stories in the Bible or people characters?

Armentha: One of my favorite characters in the Bible is there's a lot of them, but let me just zoom in on one.

I look at the life of Queen Esther.

Jan: One of my favorites.

Armentha: And how she, you know, was put in the position that she was when nobody really knew who she was yet when she walked into that, she instantly had the favor of God.

Everybody catered to her, Everybody put her in a position for success,

and they didn't even know why they was doing it.

And so when she went before the king,

of course she stood out. She had God's favor on her and he couldn't resist. It's like, whoa, what am I looking at? He didn't know what he was looking at.

But it was because of who she was in God that he just walked her through her purpose.

Jan: Yeah.

Armentha: So I understand. I can walk through my purpose.

Not only do I have purpose, but I can walk through it victoriously.

And she was in there for a certain time and place, and when needed, she saved her people.

Jan: Yeah. And it took boldness. So much boldness.

Armentha: You know, it did. Because back then, what, you were only allowed to come before the king when he summons Jesus.

Hello.

And he had already had a bad experience with the last wife. So she's like, okay.

But again, the favor of God allows her to go before him.

And all the evil that was coming was exposed. And everything worked out in their favor.

Jan: Yeah, yeah, yeah. A lot of trust going on. And then two, she had the mentorship of her uncle.

Armentha: Yes, she did.

She had that he had a way to get to her.

Was she like. He told her, don't just think you sitting up here because what you cute. No, you got a plan and a purpose for being here.

You better work it out. And she trusted him and she went for it.

Absolutely. We all need that one mentor that'll help you over that clock.

Jan: Sometimes I think it also shows how much people that in our lives, like our family or,

you know, our grandparents even, or those people who are praying for us,

how that affects what happens with us and the direction that we take and how we get God's favor.

Armentha: Absolutely.

And you don't even think about it when they're praying for you.

But then over the years, you'd be like, wow, I know somebody was praying because certain things that should have happened didn't happen.

And it causes us to prayer because we learned. Yeah, prayer does change things.

And prayer has kept you all these years. But I'm praying people in your life and in your family is needed.

Jan: I'm sure my grandma was praying for me over the years, especially in my young college years, and I was a little,

you know, not walking a straight and narrow,

you know, But I know she's the first one that ever gave me a Bible. And I know that it was just like,

she's. No, I got something back.

God's got something better for you,

what you're doing.

Armentha: And I'm gonna keep. I'm gonna keep praying till I see it.

Jan: Yeah. So I attribute all of that to her because,

well, I'm sure my mom was praying for me too. But yeah. Yeah. Just the importance of doing that you just don't. And even when we're praying for other people, it's just God puts them on our heart, but we don't really know how our prayers are influencing them until maybe later,

if at all, you know. But it is important because he listens to our prayers.

Armentha: Exactly.

It is. Sometimes he'll allow you to see.

I've had some experiences where he's allowed me to see praying for people and say, okay, now when you run into him,

you're going to see this. Or they're going to say that. I'm like, whoa.

So that just encouraged me to pray even more. And no, you did hear me or you did actually tell me to pray for that individual.

You know, I'm like, so it's like confirmation.

Jan: Yeah.

Armentha: But we know if, if we pray, he says he hears us. Not only does he hear, he said, he answered.

Yeah. So it's like, okay,

then I'm gonna do what you tell me to do because you got it.

You got it.

Jan: Yeah. Yeah. And who would we rather do things from somebody telling us what to do than God?

Armentha: Because we know he's only going to tell us what's right.

Right.

And. And it's for his purpose. And it has a purpose. When he tell us to do it.

Jan: We can fully trust him all the way.

Armentha: Fully trust Him. And that's what I think people need to know. You can fully trust Him.

You don't have to be afraid because of what Jesus did at Calvary. You can come to him boldly and he already knows the problem. He just wants you to tell him what the issue is.

But even when we pray, instead of us praying the problem, we should be praying the solution. The solution is His Word.

Because when you begin to pray His Word, then that problem that you. Because you're going to meditate on something. Are you going to meditate on the solution or you're going to medicate on the problem?

The solution is going to get you the answer that you need. The problem is just going to make you sick,

have your worry, extra gray hair that you don't need all that wonderful stuff.

No,

pray the solution.

Praise word.

Jan: How old were you when you first really grabbed on to who Jesus was?

Armentha: Okay.

It was years in the making when he really became real to me.

But it was like I said, with the cancer diagnosis, it's like,

okay, you gonna really know who you believe or not.

It was then when. When I really began to dive into His Word because I felt like there was missing pieces in my life.

I'm like, there's some missing puzzle pieces here. I need you to fill in these pieces.

And as he began to fill in these pieces, I began to grow even more. And I'm thinking, what took me so long?

What was.

What was I believing, you know, before now? But I understood something. I was putting more trust in the pastor's relationship with Jesus instead of my own.

Now, we know they're here for instruction. They have a role to play in our life,

but they're not the role. They're a part of the role. Our first role is to him.

And that's when I really began to say, you need your own relationship with him, not your pastor's relationship,

your own. And he desires you to know him for yourself.

And I began to do that.

That's what really made a difference.

Jan: Yeah,

I think it's interesting how.

How it can take years and years and years to come to. I mean, you can be walking the walk,

you know, and, you know, you believe and you don't, you know, but it's just to where.

Where it's like God finally brings you to something,

something in your life. And a lot of times it's a bad thing,

you know, on.

That brings us to our knees and to. To really get introspective. But it's interesting about where he brings us to that point. You. Where you. I got. It's okay. I get it now.

I mean, I really get it now, you know, and it can be years and years and years till that happens. And maybe we just aren't ready to be at that point early in our life.

I don't know. It's interesting.

Armentha: I didn't know either,

considering I'm sitting in the church saying, oh, yeah,

and oh, yeah to what? Just going. Basically, I felt like I was going through the motions until a bub went off. That was the bulb that went off. And I'm like, wait a minute,

okay. And he just said, you need to have your own relationship.

Oh, I can have that. Yes, you can. I can't. What?

It's just for the pastor. Oh, I thought, no, it was not. And that really began a chain reaction when I realized I could know him for myself.

Jan: And is that because your pastor never said those words, or did he hear me say them and you just never heard them?

Armentha: It could be,

I would say a little of both,

but because, you know, you condition to your pastor. Your pastor. Your pastor ask, like, okay, he started to tell me, no, no,

they're here for instruction. They're here for this.

They didn't shed blood for you,

they didn't go to the cross for you and they can't save you.

I did all of that. That's when I really began to say, oh, you right. Wait a minute now,

shift your focus.

My focus was all wrong. But coming up as a child, that's what we were told to do.

So I'm, I went back and said, did I ever hear them say, look to Jesus? They may have said the scripture, but they didn't really,

you know, iterate to have your own relationship.

But when he started, began to talk, I'm like, oh.

And that changed the whole game.

Jan: I think that's a lot true with,

you know, people who have been to church or whatever, but they don't,

they haven't really grasped who Jesus is because they don't really know him,

you know, or they just say, well, those are just Christians or whatever, but they don't really know.

They don't know Him. They don't know who Jesus is. And if they knew Jesus,

they would have a whole different lives,

you know, wrapping their mind around the world and how things work and whatever to really dig into who he is.

Armentha: Absolutely. They don't know Him. That's why a lot of times when we see spiritual leaders who fall or get involved in stuff, a lot of people walk away from the church.

They said, well, if he couldn't do it, how am I going to do it? That's a man or a woman. They, in flesh, just like you are, they're subject to error.

That has nothing to do with Jesus.

That has to do with them. Fall into whatever thing they had that was a stronghold on them.

Don't walk away from him.

You may walk away from the man or woman, but don't walk away from Jesus. But if they really knew who Jesus was, they wouldn't walk away. They would understand.

Okay, that was their issue. We still got to forgive them because he's going to forgive them.

But it wouldn't destroy him like it's destroying so many people.

Jan: Yeah,

yeah.

And I think it's just, again, it's so important for us when we really grasp who Jesus is, that that's what we have to represent.

We have to represent him in such a way that when other people see us, they are seeing him,

you know, and we are directing them to him.

Not just some kind of a Christian in name, you know.

Armentha: Absolutely not. You're right, not in name. Because we have to be mindful, as you stated,

at all times we're being watched. When you say good living, Episcopals, red and men and we're being read all the time by your family, by your friends, by strangers on the street.

What are they reading?

So if we are to be drawing him,

drawing people to him as his ambassadors,

we need to have something to say when we open our mouth and not about us.

Something should come out that sparks something about Jesus to them. And it's not because you pull the 12 scriptures to him. We ought to be able to have a regular conversation with somebody and Jesus still be speaking.

Jan: Yeah,

yeah, yeah. That, that just totally has to be our focus, you know, And I think that's once.

And it comes more when we really, really can grasp on to who he is. You know, just.

And then once, once we get that, then all we do is go deeper and deeper with that relationship.

Armentha: The more you want up him, he's not just a pigment of your imagination or just some book you're reading. No, this is a real individual that did a real thing for me.

Absolutely. Yeah,

absolutely.

Jan: And the more,

the more you see what he does, when you really recognize the more things that he does for you, it's easy to share. It's so much easier because.

Because it's so real to you.

Armentha: And it's everyday little things that he does that you don't really pay attention to.

It's like, wow,

you concerned about everything in my life. Everything. I didn't tell you some things. I said everything.

When I said I came for you to have life and have it more abundantly, I meant just that.

Yeah,

yeah, I came. Regardless of what the enemy may be doing, he gonna do his job. He gonna steal, kill and destroy.

But I came. I oversee him. I came and that's the end of it.

Jan: Yeah, yeah.

I like those little God winks. I call them Godwinks throughout the day where there's some kind of thing that you just know.

Oh, thank you for that. That was.

Armentha: Absolutely, you know where it came from.

You know, just getting up and walking and looking at just nature, it's like, wow,

I saw a beautiful bird. It was a red bird, but it had red and blue and yellow and I'm like, those was colors I would have never thought to put together.

But look at you,

just,

just the beauty of everything and how intricately made everything is.

Jan: Yeah.

Armentha: Including us.

Jan: Yeah.

And you do you look at, you look at all the different kind of nature or different photos of things and it just,

to me, I, I just, I can see God, Jesus, Holy Spirit creating all these things. You go, oh, look what I made. Oh, no,

no, look at this one. I'm gonna make you one better. You know, we're gonna take that one. We're gonna add this to it instead. You know, I mean, do you know how much fun that would be?

Armentha: Yeah, we. If we had that ability to do that. Yeah, absolutely.

Jan: Yeah.

Yeah. Everything was. Had so much fun creating the world and all that was in it. It was just like.

Well, our time is almost up, Armanta. This has been a delightful conversation. What would you like to leave with our listeners or our watchers?

Armentha: I would like them to really take the time to get to know Jesus for Himself and all that he did. Really get into His Word and study who he is so that they can grow and know him for themselves.

Not because somebody else know him, because they have an opportunity. Opportunity to know the Father through the Son.

And when they do that, it'll change their life for real.

They'll really understand what it means to be Christlike, because they're experiencing there's no other experience like getting to know Jesus Christ for yourself. Well, I take it back. Christ Jesus.

He's now Christ Jesus. But when you get to know him for yourself, you'll never be the same.

And everything around you will never be the same.

That's what I would like to leave them with.

Jan: Yep. Good words. So good. All right, well, thank you so much.

Armentha: Thank you for this opportunity.