Basking in Scripture

Every once in a while, I get the opportunity to teach at a women's event. This weekend, I'm one of the speakers at a women's retreat for the Baptist Convention of New York! It's always a terrifying privilege to be asked to present the Word of God to a group of ladies. The weight of the situation is undeniable. I have a chance to be a part of the spiritual lives of women who will go back to their lives changed. I can't control the change that takes place in their hearts, but I can certainly be faithful to the Word and pray that it changes them for the better. Scripture always changes us, in one way or another. An encounter with Scripture can't be a neutral experience. We draw closer to our Creator or we harden our hearts to Him.

As I'm preparing to teach, I'm spending a lot of time in one passage. I've read it, re-read it, and I've written it by hand in two translations so far. It's just so... good. It's so good to have the chance to bask in the truth of God's Word. It's so good to be forced to listen, ears leaning in to whatever God is saying.

I know that I'll only be able to relay a few of the lessons that I have gleaned from this passage. There's only so much time, after all. I ask Him to show me which truths are the most helpful to the ladies God brings this weekend. But here, in the time I have spent listening to God's Word, hanging onto each syllable, I'm changed.

That's how I want to teach, as someone changed. I know that I need it. I'm not where I hope to be in a year. Next year, I won't be where I hope to be a year after that. That's what I want for the women who come to the retreat this weekend. I want them to be changed, and I want them to go back to their normal lives armed with the truth that changed them. That's my prayer for them, and that's my prayer for myself.

Lord, never let me cling to my own ways and my own thoughts more tightly than I cling to Yours. Change me by Your Word, and change those around me through Your Word at work within me.

Please pray for me and for the women of great faith in our Great God who will teach the other sessions and workshops. It is an awesome privilege to be counted among them! Pray especially for Cathy, the amazing woman who is organizing and running point for the whole retreat.