Character Sketches, Volume 2: A Woman of the Word

Raquel is someone who knows and believes the Word of God. When she opens her mouth to give wise counsel, her words drip with the Word of God even when she isn't quoting Scripture.

Countless times I have been listening to a sermon and heard a verse - or have been doing my devotions - and would run across something that Raquel had said.

I remember sitting in my basement with her when she was mentoring me. I would spout off about some problem I was having, and she would say, "Well, let's see what the Word says about that."

She would flip right to the Scripture that addressed my problem directly and have me read it. So there I was, staring right at what God says about my problem.

How many times have I opened my mouth and spoken words that show no resemblance to God's Word?

How many times have I opened my mouth and spoken words that are in direct disobedience to His Word?

I can't even bear to fathom the answers to these questions.

Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Thanks be to GOD - through Jesus Christ, our
Lord!

Raquel also opened my eyes to the spiritual realm. She had this quirky belief that the stuff that God does in the Bible, He is actually able to do here and now.

Imagine that! And here I had been separating the two for my whole life. Crazy.


She shared with me her experiences with her spiritual gifts and how she longed for others to experience the same thing. She told me stories of how God had shown up miraculously when she was growing up in the mission field in Brazil.

She exercised spiritual discernment on my behalf when I had none. She taught me how to pray over my house when we sensed evil in our midst.

And how self-centered I was! When God blessed me with the privelege of catching a glimpse of the spiritual realm, I loved it at first, but when I found it frightening or inconvenient or strange, I resented it.

I mean, who has time to pray the blood of Jesus over their house when class starts, across campus, five minutes from now?

And what if I'm late? What am I supposed to tell my teacher?

I shouldn't have to... I, I, I, I... (it is all about me, isn't it?)

Lord, forgive me for refusing to see the fullness of what You can do, beyond my understanding or comfort.

Restore my eyes! Allow me to see you working in the supernatural realm!

I want to be open to Your voice and Your work... and this time, on Your terms, not mine.

Raquel is someone who understands authority. She knows how to submit to authority, and how to exert authority when God gives it to her. She taught me about how we are under God's covering when we submit to authority, and that we are only to go against that authority when it is in opposition to God's will.

That one is tough! I wonder what it would have been like if I had recognized the authorities God had placed over me throughout my life, and trusted Him and obeyed Him by submitting to them. My parents, my teachers, my bosses, my pastors... Oh, how much heartache I would have been saved! Not to mention the heartache of those around me!

Lord, help me to honor you by honoring those you place in authority over me.

Give me the strength to let go of what I think is the best/most efficient way of doing things and trust You.

Help me to let go of my preferences and exchange them for Your glory.

Raquel also modeled humility for me. She told me that she had said something to her husband (and of course I don't remember what it was) and she had to go back and apologize to him and ask his forgiveness.

This blew me away. I don't think that ever in my life I had gone to apologize to someone of my own volition. For me, apologies were the result of confrontations.

It's still very difficult for me to apologize to people. And often, it is even more difficult for me to look at a situation and see my fault in it. It's so much easier (and less painful) to look at what someone else is doing wrong!

Yet more and more I find the freedom in admitting my faults - no longer having the stress of holding up this pretense of having it together. As it turns out, the only time I am not failing is when God is working through me.

Lord, help me to get out of your way!

Help me to humble myself and let you remove the barriers I put up to allowing You to work through me.
Help me to be quick to admit when I am wrong, and when I am not acting according to the way You have taught in Your Word.





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