Matt Adams encourages us by sharing a story of just how important the Bible was to his grandmother.

-Transcript Below-

My grandmother is probably the most godly woman I have ever known. She lived every day of her life trying to show people the love and grace of a Savior she knew well. She also knew the importance of reading the Word of God daily, of making it a vibrant, vital part of every day. I can remember the tattered, old black Bible that she carried for years. The pages were ripped, marked, highlighted, and stained. More than one grandchild had spilled, wiped, or smeared something across it’s pages. Wherever Mamaw was, it always seemed to me that her Bible was never very far away. It went with her to church. It sat in her lap in her chair at night. It was always open on her kitchen table. It was with her when she had her stroke.

That stroke took a lot from her. She couldn’t use her left-side well. She couldn’t speak well for a while. She couldn’t read her Bible. The frustration that she felt, the loss in that one simple fact, made a huge impression on me. She couldn’t read her Bible and that was not OK!

I can remember her sitting at her kitchen table, Bible open in front of her, crying, praying, trying to read the Word again. Even in a life as full as hers, she knew that something important, something vital, was missing from her life. Her family watched as, day-by-day, through prayer and perseverance, God gave His Word back to her. It wasn’t an instantaneous miracle, but a miracle of hard work. She had a mountain in front of her and she woke up every morning, grabbed her shovel and set about to move that mountain.

Although I’m sure she never intended it, I don’t think I can adequately express how much she taught me in those months of frustration. She taught me just how important the Word is, how central it should be to our lives. She taught me that prayer still works and miracles still happen – even if you have to work for them. She taught me that your time in the Word should change the way you live outside of it. She taught me that the bad things in our lives are opportunities to point directly to the Father and for Him to show himself strong. She taught me to love the living Word of a Loving God.

Twenty years later, she’s still teaching through that story, to my children, and now, maybe, to you.

Matt Adams
Latest posts by Matt Adams (see all)