In Gratitude to Ms. Cravy
by Hal Lindsey
When I was 12 years old, Ms. Cravy gave me a pocket-sized Gideon’s New Testament. I kept it for 14 years without reading from it. However, I always packed it and took it along because I regarded it as sort of a good luck charm. I kept it with me as I served in the Coast Guard, and later as a tugboat captain. But due to a series of circumstances that only God could have arrange, I finally was driven by God’s invisible hand to seriously start reading that little New Testament.
Ms. Cravy realized that it was not her job to change my life, draw me to Christ, make me a Christian, or even get me to open the little Bible when she saw I wasn’t interested. She knew it was her job to give the little New Testament and to pray for me. In that job, she was faithful, and my gratitude is eternal.
She was part of causing me to eventually become a Christian, become a minister, a bestselling Christian author, and have a worldwide television ministry. In short, by the Grace of God, I would become a high profile Christian. But what if none of that had happened? What if I had become a Christian without any particular fame? Or what if I had never become a Christian? What if I had lost or thrown the Bible away before ever reading it? None of those things would diminish the significance of her faithfulness to the exceedingly high calling God placed on her life.
I talk to schoolteachers, Sunday School teachers, and others who regularly work with young people. The young of this century are much changed from the time I was a child. In many cases, their parents simply don’t discipline them. We can thank Dr. Spock for initiating that.
The neurons in the brains of today’s kids are wired together differently because of immersive television, computers, video games, tablets, smart phones, etc. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends “Television and other entertainment media should be avoided for infants and children under age 2.” But in the real world, kids are learning to use tablet computers before they learn to talk.
Like a junkie, they progress rapidly, needing stronger and stronger jolts to give them their kicks. Violence, mayhem, and lewd comedy fill the screens that children now watch an average of seven hours a day. It overwhelms the senses.
In 2014, it’s tough to be a “Ms. Cravy.” The attempt may at times seem futile. In a society that judges success by the pragmatic measuring stick of numbers, today’s Ms. Cravy may feel she’s making no progress at all.
But God’s calling is pragmatic in a deeper sense. He calls you to be faithful. So, if you are a 21st century Ms. Cravy, and you’re tired or discouraged, stop for a moment and feel God’s smile. Even when you admit to yourself that at times they seem like brats, remember that God loves each one of them with a John 3:16 kind of love.
Rest when you need to, but don’t give up. God’s word is a seed that will never return void.
Claim God’s promises:
“So shall My Word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
Because:
“The Word of God is alive and powerful,
sharper than any two edged sword,
Piercing as far as the division of the soul and spirit,
of the joints and marrow,
and is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
(Isaiah 55:11 NKJ; Hebrews 4:12 HL)
So do not loose heart. Learn from Ms. Cravy. She knew that it was God’s Word that is alive and powerful and able to do what He sent her out to spread. Every time we give the Gospel or simply give a Bible to a person, it will accomplish exactly what God intended it to do.
I thank God Ms. Cravy obeyed the LORD.
Subject: Watchman Warning: 1-10-2014 
Fri Jan 10, 2014 9:56 am
