Anne threw herself down on the old leather sofa sobbing, “I know he’s going to die; oh, I just know it! Why didn’t somebody watch him?” Anne cried. “Why didn’t they?”
The house had been very busy that morning. The new furniture had arrived before breakfast. Lots of things had to be moved out of the way so the deliverymen could get the new chairs and sofa into the living room. With all this going on they forgot to lock the screen door after the deliverymen left. Little Ronnie, just 14 months old, had pushed open the screen door. Nobody missed him for a few minutes, and that’s when it happened!
Anne didn’t like to think about what happened after that. She had been late for school, and Daddy said he would drop her off on his way to work. She and Daddy had hurried into the car and started to back out of the driveway. Then they felt the bump and heard the cry. At the same time Mother ran out of the house pointing frantically at the back wheel. Ronnie had been playing behind the car and was caught under the wheel of the car.
The ambulance and police had arrived minutes after they were called. They got Ronnie out and rushed him to the hospital. Daddy and Mommy had followed the ambulance, leaving Anne at home to take care of her little sister, Marie.
Anne could not stand the quiet house any longer. Getting up from the sofa, she went outside. If only she could get that picture out of her mind of Ronnie caught under the wheel. “Oh, God, please don’t let Ronnie die! I’ll be good if You’ll let him live,” she prayed. And she meant it. The thought of her family without Ronnie was awful! “Oh, God, please, please, don’t let him die!”
A little later she heard the car in the driveway and her Daddy’s voice. Racing to him, she looked up at his face. Before he said a word she could tell by his expression that God had heard her prayer. “The doctor says he thinks Ronnie is going to be all right,” he said to her.
Anne heard no more. Grabbing her little sister by the hand, she took her out into the back yard. No one could see or hear them. Anne was so relieved, she wanted to shout! Jumping up and down, the nine-year-old chanted, “God awered my prayer! God answered my prayer! Do you hear that, Marie? God answered my prayer!”
They went back into the house and listened as Daddy explained over the phone to Grandma what had happened. “The doctor said it is a miracle that Ronnie is alive,” he said.
“Of course it was a miracle!” Anne thought. She knew the answer —God had heard her prayer.
But now what about that promise she had made to God? She honestly wanted to be good, very good. At first it was easy. Every time she looked at her little brother she was so thankful he was getting better that it wasn’t hard to be good. But as time went on, she began to forget about her promise.
One warm Sunday afternoon, Anne went to the store for her mother. At the corner of one of the streets there was a man speaking from the Bible. She heard him say, “The Lord Jesus Christ is coming back to take to heaven all those who trust in Him and are saved. Are you ready?” Anne hurried on. She didn’t want to hear any more. She didn’t know if she was ready. How did you “trust the Lord"? And what did he mean by “saved"? She was scared—scared that the Lord Jesus might come back, and she didn’t know if she was ready. What could she do? Who was there to tell her?
Then something wonderful happened. Daddy came home one evening and told the family that he had found real peace and joy, and his sins had been forgiven by God. He was saved, he explained, because he had been lost: lost in sin and far away from God. The Lord Jesus had found him. He showed them in the Bible that He “is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:1010For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10).
Anne listened carefully. Here was her answer. Daddy talked to her more about the Lord. He explained to her that she was a sinner, too, and showed her from the Bible the way to be saved. Later, alone in her room, she quietly asked the Lord Jesus to save her. She told him that she was a sinner and needed to be saved. She accepted Him as her own Saviour. It was a happy Anne who got up from her knees. The Lord had heard her prayer again. Now He would help her keep that promise she had made the day Ronnie was hurt.
Anne had not been able to keep the promise she had made to God because she was under the power of sin. But after she accepted the Lord Jesus as her Saviour, she was no longer under the power of sin and, with His help, she could try to please Him in everything she did. In her words, “Jesus will help me to be good.”
ML-03/15/1981