Revel Guest Post: Revel in God’s Word by Candace Crabtree

I’m so excited to host my first guest post ever from my friend Candace.  She has written a wonderfully helpful post on learning to love God’s Word.  In her story I find that her patience, reliance, and trust in God were rewarded.  I want to learn to revel now – my patience is in short supply – but God doesn’t always work in the immediate. He takes His time.  What a blessing to learn through Candace’s story:

The word “revel” means to take great pleasure or delight in. When Dawn chose this as her word for the year, I immediately loved it. What a great word!

What do you revel in?

Where do you find delight?

What does your heart treasure above all else?

For me, it hasn’t always been the same things. Seasons come and go in our lives and our likes and dislikes change as well. That is normal, I think.

But, over the course of the last 7-8 years, God has been doing a work in my heart and slowly He is changing my desires. He is creating in me a new heart. He is helping me learn to treasure Him and His Word above all else.

About 8 years ago the Lord took me through a valley of darkness that lasted roughly 7-8 years total. These were dark days of depression where my eyes couldn’t always see God at work. The darkness seemed so constant and thick and eventually I lost hope that God would ever shine light into my darkness.

I knew God was faithful, but I also knew that sometimes He allowed hard things in our lives to draw us to Himself and to make us more like Himself. Eventually, I began to find peace and comfort in the pages of God’s Word.

I had read or heard somewhere to read 1 Psalm a day, so I began trying it. I would read one Psalm each morning, and keep on going. When I got to the end of the Psalms, I would start over. At first, not a spark of hope flickered in my heart. Nothing. No feeling. It was as if I was dead inside.

But, slowly…very slowly…God began doing His thing. His Word never returns void, you know! Isaiah 55: 11 tells us that. Slowly, the cries of David, the Psalmist, became the cries of my heart. His words mirrored my feelings so much. His prayers became my prayers.

Eventually, the prayers of the Psalmist, became the cries of my heart.

“Lord, may my delight be in the instruction of the Lord…” Psalm 1:2

“You are a shield around me, Lord, you bestow glory and lift my head!” Psalm 3:3

“In the morning you hear my voice, Lord, I lay my requests before you and wait and hope in You alone.” Psalm 5:3

“You are a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. You are MY refuge and You are MY stronghold. Thank You, Father!” Psalm 9:9

Praying the very Word of God slowly worked miracles in my heart. Praying the very Word of God filled me with peace and comfort. Praying the very Word of God gave words to the prayers that often I could not utter. The times of desperation, when I had no words to offer, the Word of God became the prayer.

Praying the Scriptures has created in me a love and passion for God’s Word. Yet, it was born out of a time of darkness and desperation. I came to learn that those dark times can produce some of the most beautiful blessings in our lives.

Where is your treasure today? Join me in praying that God’s Word would be the delight of our hearts.

May we revel in Your Word, oh Lord!

Candace is just a messed up mama in need of God’s fresh new mercies daily. She and her husband live with their 3 children in the beautiful foothills of the Smoky Mountains. She writes on her blog, His Mercy Is New, about her struggles with depression and gives encouragement through resources for Praying the Scriptures. She also shares daily prayers & Scriptures on instagram, if you’d like to follow her there! Follow the hashtag #prayingthescriptures to join along! If you’d like to see all her resources & printables for Praying the Scriptures, please head over to this page.