Kavod – the Hebrew word for glory has a lot of meanings including wealth and majesty to name a few; however, it was my experience with encountering a small smidgen of God’s glory that transformed my life from the outer court into the pursuit of living in the very throne room of God.
I was in the midst of pursuing the knowledge of the glory of God when one day I decided to go see a movie. As I parked my car and hurried out the car to catch the opening trailers (my favorite) it dawned on me that I forgot my handbag at home. I never forget my handbag. It’s like a permanent extension of my arm. I disappointingly sunk back in my car seat and was about to head home when the idea came to me to go to my other favorite place in the world – the bookstore! I did not need money to get in and I could preview books at my leisure. I had the time; I wasn’t expected home for a good 2 hours.
As I entered the foyer of the bookstore, I heard the Holy Spirit say to me, grace, gold and glory. I knew exactly what He meant and I headed straight to find the book Grace, Gold and Glory by Gabrielle Douglas. I had never read the book, but I knew it was her story on her journey to the Olympics and I’m always fascinated by overcoming stories. I found her book in the kids section and I began to read what I thought would be a few pages. An hour and a half later I emerged from reading the entire book with renewed purpose. I saw how she focused, knew exactly what she wanted and how she wrote her vision and made it plain like a bulls-eye! I promptly headed home and got pen and paper to do the same. As I started writing, old dreams of material things resurfaced; things I had laid aside as I was too defeated or tired of dreaming about – like fancy cars and dream houses. I started to write with vigor and hope because I knew that I knew that God was going to answer my prayers. I felt like there was an open heaven over my head at that moment and WHATEVER I asked for was going to happen, if not immediately, sometime soon.
As I wrote, I begun to think to myself,
Anika, if you know you are going to get whatever you ask for, don’t you think you should ask REALLY big? Like ask for the biggest thing you want in your life.”
I thought for a minute and then it dawned on me – I know what I want more than anything. What I wrote next changed my life forever.
Anika Janelle Pettiford, The Founder and CEO of Elani Enterprises is also an Author and Bible Teacher. Upon graduation from Seminary with a Master’s in Theological Studies, Anika launched what she calls “His ministry through her” – Grace, Gold and Glory. Taking the gospel to the Marketplace is Anika’s unique positioning in the Kingdom of God.
