Annie Johnson was born to Eldon and Jean Johnson on
Christmas Eve of the year 1866 in Vineland, New Jersey. Just three
years later, Annie’s mother died after giving birth to another baby
girl. Mr. Johnson took Annie and her sister to board with the widow of
an old army comrade who had been killed in the Civil War. The widow had
two children of her own and had limited means. She begrudgingly cared
for the Johnson girls for two years.
There was a
neighbor, however, that adored the Johnson girls. Though she was not a
blood relative, the girls would call her “Aunt Susie.” Aunt Susie was a
school teacher that boarded with the Flint family near the school where
she taught. Aunt Susie spoke so much about the Johnson girls that the
Flints looked into their situation and adopted them into their family.
Mr. Johnson, who was suffering at the time with an incurable disease
that would soon end his life, was very pleased to allow this loving,
God-fearing family to adopt his daughters.
As Annie
Johnson Flint grew up in the Flint home, she began to grow interested in
writing poetry. After completing high school, she became a teacher.
She signed a contract to teach at a normal school for three years. In
the second year, she began to battle arthritis. Her arthritis became so
debilitating that she had great difficulty walking and struggled to
complete her third year. It was not long after that her adoptive
parents passed away within only a few months of each other. Aunt Susie
came to the rescue and made arrangements for Annie to receive care in
the Sanitarium at Clifton Springs, New York. The doctors at the
Sanitarium sought to help Annie but her arthritis became crippling.
While at the
Sanitarium, Annie was visited by a “little, tired, discouraged” lady who
would tell her troubles to Annie. When this “little lady” moved back
west, she wrote to Annie telling her how down-hearted she was and she
didn’t see why God allowed such difficult things to come into her life.
Annie responded with a poem entitled, “What God Hath Promised.”
God has not promised skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways all our lives
through;
God has not promised sun without rain,
Joy without
sorrow, peace without pain.
But God has promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing kindness, undying love.
No, God has not promised skies always blue with
flower-strewn pathways all our lives through.
But God loves
us so much that He gave His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins
so that we may be saved from our sins and receive the gift of eternal
life. Jesus died for us so that one day, we may live forever in a place
where there is no more suffering, pain, or death (Romans 6:23;
Revelation 21:4).
God has promised that He will save and give
eternal life to those who place their
faith and
trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in
repentance
(Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans
10:9-10), and are baptized
(immersed) into Christ for the
forgiveness of
sins (Acts 2:38). He has promised to continue to cleanse from sin those
who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).
God has not
promised that this life will be easy. But He has promised that
something far better awaits those who will trust and obey Jesus.
Won’t YOU?
-- David A.
Sargent
* Information gleaned from “Annie’s Story” by Rowland V.
Bingham,
Bible Memory Association International,
as it appears on
www.womenofchristianity.com.
David A. Sargent,
Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
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