Desperate for God's Word - Gladys' example

My daughter Abigail with her mentor Gladys

On the cusp of adulthood, my daughter Abigail witnessed a sacred moment that I pray will be forever woven into the woman she is becoming.

Abigail graduated from not only high school, but also from Joy El Generation's 4.12 Leadership Training Program (www.joyelgeneration.org<http://www.joyelgeneration.org>) in the spring of this year. Sadly, serious health problems prevented Abigail's mentor, Gladys McCrae, from attending the Joy El event, where students shared testimonies about how God changed them through the program, and mentors blessed their mentees with words, love and often tears. Gladys' absence was sorely felt, yet we knew she was praying, as she so faithfully does.

The day Abigail received her high school diploma, Gladys and her husband were also absent. Health changes had them moving into a nearby assisted living facility, where they could receive the extra help they now required.

I called Gladys to arrange a visit to her new place when Abigail would have a day off from Joy El Camps & Retreats (www.joyelcamps.org<http://www.joyelcamps.org>), where Abigail was serving as a senior counselor.

"When you come,” Gladys requested, “I think I’d like to have Abigail read to me. My eyes are keeping me from reading my Bible, and my Scripture CDs and DVDs are all at the house.” Knowing what a woman of the Word Gladys is, I could hear the longing in her voice. Together, Gladys and I made a plan for getting her Scripture CDs and DVDs to her new place, and we also expressed enthusiasm about our upcoming visit.

Abigail’s first day off from camp arrived and we went directly to visit Gladys at her new home. After seeing their new place and catching up with Gladys and her husband, Leroy, we knew our visit was drawing to a close. Abigail pulled out a Bible to read aloud to her beloved mentor. They decided on Psalm 119.

As Abigail began reading this passage extolling God’s Word, Gladys immediately relaxed onto her walker. There she sat in her chair, oxygen tubes in her nose, head rested on her arms in front of her. Her face was radiant.

Abigail read verse after verse of the precious words… “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word…” “My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times…”

When Abigail stumbled over a word, Gladys supplied it, clearly having saturated her mind with this passage through the years.

Abigail got tears in her eyes and tears streamed down my face for a few reasons:

1) The beauty of God’s Word and the demonstration of this passage happening right before our eyes. Gladys' soul was consumed with longing for His law!

2) The privilege it has been for my daughter to have this godly woman in her life, who has been there for Abigail and prayed for her regardless of her own life circumstances, including major health challenges and life transitions.

3) Gladys’ example. Gladys had gone a week without any form of Scripture readily available to her. Without it, she felt incomplete. When she finally heard God’s life-changing words read, her entire body responded. She relaxed into it, bathed in it, savored it.

I love God’s Word, but do I crave it like Gladys? Abigail memorizes large passages of Scripture, but does she long for it with her entire being? These were questions raised by the experience that day. And my prayer is that not only my daughter Abigail, but I myself, will remember what Gladys demonstrated to us that day: “My soul cleaves to the dust; Revive me according to Your word.”

How are you nurturing your longing for God's Word? Have you soaked in Scripture yet today?