STEERING BY MOTHER'S LIGHT
To illustrate the great influence of a Godly mother, let me tell you the story of Susannah Prentice. This story goes back to 1950.
Susannah and her husband, Miles, lived in a 2-story house located on the coast of Maine. Miles and Susannah had 2 sons and a daughter. Their names were Annie, James and John.
The Prentice family were devout Christians except for John, the youngest son. Though he attended worship services with his family, John had never accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior.
Miles Prentice was a lobster fisherman. He was barely able to catch enough lobster to support his family. One day, when the weather report said storms were possible. Miles decided he had no choice. He had to go check his lobster traps, hoping to catch enough lobsters to pay the electric bill, which was due the next day.
So Miles and his oldest son, James, headed out to sea on their small lobster fishing boat. Sure enough! A big storm blew up. Miles and his son fought hard to keep their boat afloat. The storm raged on and Miles and James were carried out to sea. And when the storm finally passed on, Miles and James were in trouble. It was dark now. The clouds in the sky meant there were no stars for navigation.
Meanwhile, back at the Prentice home, Susannah knew that her husband and son would not be able to find their way back home. So she took a lamp and put it in the attic window, hoping its rays would serve as a beacon to direct her husband and son home safely. So Susannah Prentice set a lamp in the window as a beacon. Her unsaved son, John, said, "It won’t do any good!" Nevertheless, Susannah kept the lamp lit. And she added to it her prayers for the deliverance of her husband and son.
Out on the sea and in the darkness, James saw a faint light in the distance. He pointed it out to his father. "We’ll steer for that!" said Miles. And slowly they made their way toward the light and shore. Seeing the light in the window, and I am certain, assisted by the mother’s prayers, Miles and James Prentice were soon safely ashore. The family hugged each other in a happy celebration.
John asked, "How did you make it back in?"
And James said, "We steered by the light mother put in the window, but we didn’t know what it was out there."
To himself, the unsaved son John thought, "Maybe it is time for me to steer my life by mother’s light."
Susannah Prentice not only put a light in the attic window, she let her light shine in front of her family.
A few months later, the unsaved son John became ill. The doctor examined the young man. And then he gave them the grim prognosis, "He won’t live long."
As death approached, the young man said, "Don’t be afraid for me. I will make it to the safety of the heavenly harbor, because I have steered by mother’s light and have found the Savior, Jesus Christ."
(From a sermon by David Rigg, The God Who Blesses Mothers, 5/7/2011)