Following Where He Leads

 

“The British are coming, the British are coming.”  It is one of the best known call to arms in all history. It was a call to war, a call to fight, to gather with the other soldiers against the enemy. But, most importantly, it was a call to follow the general wherever he led them in a pursuit of freedom for all people.

Throughout history, there have been numerous amounts of call to arms. However, the call of the Lord to his people is the most important. He’s called each of us to a specific task – one that has been planned out before the beginning of time. Yes. He calls you. He calls me. And, he calls us to aid Him in the spread of His gospel to all the nations – to join Him in His mission and to follow Him wherever He leads.

He calls us all in many different ways and times as well as for different tasks. The Lord opened my eyes to the great need for the Gospel around the world, even at an early age. He instilled in me a desire for every tribe and nation to know and praise Him forever. Through reading missionary stories as well as praying for the nations with my family, I was constantly reminded that not everyone had had the chance to hear about Jesus. Even though I didn’t know how I was to serve God, I knew it was His will that I was supposed to follow Him.

In God’s perfect time, He placed someone in my life that would help me get started in the exploration of what the Lord would have me do for Him.

It all started in an amusement park. No, I’m not joking. We were surrounded by people, roller coasters, noise, food, and just craziness in general. But, the Lord can use anyone, anywhere for His plans – even a young lady at an amusement park. This young lady was visiting the park with us and she and I happened upon a conversation about what she did for work. She happily informed me that she was a missionary pilot-mechanic. I was intrigued as I listened and talked with her about it, delighted to discuss and learn about what God was doing through pilots all around the world as they flew missionaries to parts of the world that were previously inaccessible. This experience ignited my passion for following Him in His mission once again as I looked into what it would be like to become a missionary pilot.

I pursued this new interest with passion, believing that it was what God had called me to do. After attending a week-long summer camp at JAARS, NC, where I was able to explore what it would be like to fly airplanes, create a flight plan, work with airplane engines, and much more, I came home extremely excited. It seemed as if this was just what God wanted and that I was right on track for what he wanted me to do.

However, over time, as I thought about it, I realized that I was not entirely suited for flying as a missionary pilot. As an extrovert, it would be very difficult for me to fly for hours, on most occasion, by myself. That, along with my growing interest in medicine, and a few other factors, caused me to start to doubt whether being a missionary pilot was really how God had called me to serve Him.

This left me confused and bewildered. Why had God led me to explore being a pilot if that wasn’t what He was calling me to? I felt like I was betraying my passion and abandoning His call on my life. I didn’t understand why I was suddenly feeling called to something else. The problem was, no matter how hard I tried to leave the idea of medical missions, it just kept coming back. This doubt was aided by the fact that my dad was encouraging me to look into medical missions, knowing my personality and what I’d most likely better be suited to do. I tried to figure it out, reason what was going on. But I just couldn’t. Confused and lost, I ended up giving it to God – what I should’ve done in the first place – trusting Him that He would lead me. Yes, I didn’t understand, but He would work things out. I was only in eighth grade after all. I didn’t have to have everything planned out perfectly. He would bring to light, in His perfect time, what His call on my life would be.

As the years went on and I got older, I developed my interests and pursued things that I found that I enjoyed. One of these things that I found was writing. I discovered that writing – both non-fiction as well as fiction – could impact people for the gospel. So, I started a blog this blog, whose theme was the spread of the gospel, educating others about missions, and my journey as I explored God’s call on my life.

Continuing to pursue the passion that God had given me at that time, I eventually ended up planning and starting to write a novel. Even though it was a fictional work, I was overjoyed by the fact that I was able to instill biblical truths into it. Mainly, the truth that our pain will be turned to joy through Christ – that pain is not worthless. I realized that stories were able to teach others about Jesus, too – reaching even people that might not be open to listening to someone talk about Jesus.

And that brings me to where I am today. I am currently pursuing publishing for my novel, Author Rights, while at the same time, trusting God for where He will lead. I don’t exactly know how my current interests will play out in His call on my life, but I do know that He is able and willing to use what He has given me to make an impact on the world for Him. So, I will answer the call to arms, willing to fight for Him, following where he leads.

Toddlers and Our Dirty Hands | Isabelle Ingalls

“Bell-wup, Bell-wup!” my little brother calls, his toddler feet pattering across the wooden floor. Almost four and talking so well, yet my name has retained its babyish suffix. “I have dirty hands!” he proclaims sadly, holding them up for me to see. So I’ll help him up onto his stool in front of the sink, turning on the water and providing soap at the correct times.

But I sigh good-naturedly as I do so. Because this is the third time he’s done the exact same thing in fifteen minutes. And each and every time, no matter how hard I look, I can’t find anything on his hands. There’s no dirt. There’s no mud. There’s no smudges. He’s been playing with a mask, so maybe he brushed some glitter off, but even that I cannot see.

Yet he’s insistent that his hands are dirty. And if his hands are dirty, he knows they need to be washed.

Now, a toddler wanting to be continuously cleaned isn’t a big deal (in fact, I should probably be thankful, because the next little one will likely be the exact opposite). I’ll laugh at him and let him splash around and delight in the water that flows so freely out of the tap. But he’s not the only one who gets messy.

Because my hands are often dirty too. Not with physical dirt and germs, but with sin. With mistakes. With wrongs.

And yes, we know we all sometimes slip and land in the mud, the mire coming up to our elbows. We know we need to be washed then. But often it’s the little dirt that we pass over. I tell a little white lie (as if such a thing exists). I allow my anger to make me snap out, to just cross that line for a moment. I cut those corners because I just don’t feel like it today. I slip into gossip and condemnation. But we don’t see those as big deals. If someone else looked, they couldn’t really see it. But it’s still there. We still feel it. We still know our hands are dirty. Yet we allow it.

“It’s not a big deal,” we tell ourselves. “It’s just something little; I don’t need to go wash.” But that’s not true. We all know what happens when we don’t scrub our hands with soap and water. Germs and dirt build up and creep in. They start to make you sick, affecting every part of your body. Your strength is weakened; your energy is sapped. If that’s true with the physical, how much more so with the spiritual? When we allow sin to cling, its stench can start spreading to everything else.

Fortunately, the blood of Christ is the best cleanser there is.

The cross isn’t just for our big mirey disgusting sins, it’s for all of them––because in God’s eyes, all of them are. His renewing isn’t just for Sunday morning and revival tents, it’s also for Wednesday woes and backseat bickering. We can’t come to him too often. There’s never an over amount of cleansing. Three times in fifteen minutes isn’t too often to wash yourself. We need Him every hour, every moment, every breath.

Yes, some days it seems like the need to return to His cleansing flow, again and again, is endless. If you’ve never had one of those days, then you’re either a saint or have never worked with children. Or siblings. Or just people in general.

But that’s okay. Because He calls us to come. Come and laugh in His love, rejoice in His forgiveness, delight in the living water that flows so freely. Douse yourself daily in His grace, come ever to the fount of all goodness.

We’re just little children, lisping out our pleas to our Lord. But when we come to Him, crying Abba, holding out our dirty hands, He gently leads us to the fountain and cleanses them Himself.

 

Isabelle Ingalls is a 20-year old writer seeking to see the reminder and reflection of Christ’s glorious Gospel in all of life. As a homeschool graduate, when she’s not writing, you can find her working with children, singing and dancing around the house, and discussing theology with friends over hot chocolate. A writer for both The Rebelution and Top Christian Books, she shares on singleness, adoption, Narnia, thunderstorms, stories, and Christian Living at her blog Seeing Everything Else.

3 Reasons for Trusting Others

“You can do it, Alyssa. I believe  you can!” Dad said as I practiced steering, went more than 25 mph, and drove down the highway for the first time. I was nervous and scared. “I think I’m going too fast!” was a common phrase heard those first days along with, “I feel like I’m going to fly off the road!” and “Dad, I can’t go that fast!” 

I had to trust my dad that what he said was true. He had to trust that I wouldn’t make us crash. 

But who can we trust? And why should we trust them?

#1: They Have Proven Themselves in the Past.

My dad is, my dad. I have lived with him all my life. I know that when he says something, he will do it. A while back when he said that he would catch me when I jumped in the pool, he did. Because of that, when he said to me a few days ago, “Alyssa, I want you to drive at 55 mph (the speed limit) because that’s what is safest and I know you can do that,” I knew that I could drive that fast and that he would help me do it.

#2: They Have Experience in the Area in Which They are Coaching You.

What if you have never met a person before and you still need to be able to trust them? For example, when I went to my gymnastics class for the first time, I had never met my instructor before. Yet, I trusted him to not drop me when I was flipping.

Why did I do that? I was able to trust him because he had experience. He had done gymnastics for a long time and had taught many other people as well. He knew what he was doing.

#3: They Care About Your Safety 

In both instances, the people I trusted care very much about my safety.

I know that my dad loves me so much he wouldn’t purposefully let me crash. He wants to teach me to the best of his ability – not only for my safety but also for those who will eventually be riding in the vehicle with me.

Also, my instructor would not want me to fall on my head or break something. 

Some Exceptions to #3

Now, if my dad didn’t know how to drive a car, then no matter how much he cared about me, he wouldn’t be a good person to teach me how to drive. And, if my gymnastics instructor had not done any gymnastics before or had never taught anyone, I might have been a bit more hesitant to let him spot me. So, we need to make sure that we don’t falsely place our trust in someone.

However, there is someone who will never fail us – someone we can trust completely. God. He will always do what is best (even though we may think otherwise). We can trust Him with our entire being – with our lives.

 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. ~Hebrews 6:19-20

 

C.S. Lewis Quotes – #2

Last time we looked at our first C.S. Lewis quote.

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.  C.S Lewis Quotes – #1

Here is the one for today. . . 

Reflections: Have you ever had a time in your life when you just met someone? I’m sure you have. It could have been someone from school, from church, or someone you just bumped into. 

What was the first thing that you did after you met them (other than saying your name)? Most likely, you asked them something about themselves – what their favorite subject was in school or what their hobbies are. And, don’t you get excited when you find something you both like? You had a common ground on which you could build your friendship.

As Christ followers, we also have another thing in common with other Christians. We have a firm foundation on which we can build our friendship – Jesus Christ. If you and your friend both devote your entire life to the magnification of Christ’s name, you both have the same purpose for your lives. 

What a great and marvelous foundation for a friendship!

 

C.S. Lewis Quotes – #1

 

C.S Lewis has some very noteworthy things which we should think about. So, I am going to do a six-part series on the quotes of C.S. Lewis. I hope that you enjoy reading them as much as I did.

The first one is . . . 

 

Reflections: Jesus changes everything. We don’t have to see Him to know and believe that He exists and that He has saved us. I can tell this by the changes in my life: how I can now love others better, my desire to do His will, and how my perspective about the world has changed. Also, you can see God’s work in other people’s lives as well. All of this strengthens our faith in Christ to save us and to do what is best in our lives and around the world.

I Will Trust In You – Poem

I Will Trust You 

My heart had been scattered
Into millions of pieces. 
All that I once trusted blindly 
Was questioned.
Was is true?
Or was it false?
Each was tested and weighed
For truth or for error.

Is trusting in the stories
Of the Bible
Just like trusting that
Rome was an empire
Or that WWII happened?
Are they more like
Fairy tales?

Did someone really
Rise from the dead?
Can miracles actually happen?
Did God create the earth?
Does He even exist?

Is all that the Bible says true? 
Or is it all a lie?
When Jesus comes back,
Will He be coming for me?
Is He even going to come back?
Is all that I place my
Hope and my trust in –
A lie?

Then it struck me.
I had asked the question,
“Is Jesus even coming back?” 
I remembered someone saying,
“If the Bible is false,
Christians are to be pitied.”
Was I to be pitied?
Was I trusting in a false hope?

But, then, something
Tugged on my heart.
Something inside me said,
“Lord, I don’t understand 
Why I feel this way –
Why You seem far away.
But I will trust You.

“I will trust You
Through this storm,
Through this doubt,
Through this pain.
Because You. Are. 
Trustworthy.

“I will trust You
Because You are wise,
Because You know all,
Because You know best.
You have carried me this far.

“I will trust You.
Because You have brought me 
Through past storms,
Through past doubts,
Through past pain.

“And I Will Trust You.
Because Your word is TRUE.
It says you give life 
To the dead,
Hope to the hopeless,
And a purpose for my life.

“Without You I am
Nothing.
Without You I am 
Dead in my sin,
Lost and without hope,
And then, my life would
Have no meaning.
Because You created me to
Glorify You.

So, I will trust You
With my life.
I give it all to You.
May You use my life
To proclaim Your 
Wonderful,
Powerful name 
To the whole earth.
Take my life. 
It is Yours to use.
I will trust You.

 

 

 

 

Why Does God Tell Us to Rest?

Chores, school work, social media, sports. We live in a busy world. There are always places to go, things to do, and people to hang out with. It can be extremely easy to always be doing something.

But, always running about can have some unwanted effects. 

  1. We miss the little things

    When we have our day jam-packed with things to do, we never (or hardly ever) have the time to sit down and revel in the glory of what God has done for us. We spend all of our time on busyness that we never have time to enjoy the little day-to-day gifts that God has given us. For example, I spend a lot of time working on school. Unfortunately, as a result, I do not always take the time I should to be with my precious family.

  2. We lose the opportunities that God has given us.

    God has placed certain people in our lives who He wants us to minister to – the neighbor next door who doesn’t know the Lord to the struggling youth who sits across from you in class. If we stuff our schedules so full that we only have time for what we want to do, where is the time for the things that God asks and commands us to do? We need to be open and willing to change or empty some of our schedules in order that we might do God’s will.  

  3. We get burned out.

    Burnout: The physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress. God created humans to rest. And, if we are constantly active, we will burn out. We will no longer have the energy or motivation we need to keep going. 

One way to keep ourselves from burning out is to plan our schedule wisely. This is where we need to remember that we can’t do everything. No matter how much we would like to help everyone we can’t because we aren’t God. We are limited and finite. 

Another opportunity that God gives to rest is Sunday. On Sunday, we can go to church, worship God, and be filled with the energy to show His love to others throughout the next week. Also, it is alway beneficial to cover ourselves with God’s Word each day in order to do His work well.

So, if you find that you are burning out, rethink your schedule,  and make sure to take the time to immerse yourself in God’s word.

 

Letting Go of My To-Do List

Today I would like to introduce y’all to my first guest poster – Grace. 

Grace M. is a writer, piano-player, sunset-lover, and baker. She enjoys playing volleyball, eating sour gummy worms, and spending time with her family. She blogs about Christian living at Tizzies Tidbits.

 

I am one of those people that has an organized-in-theory kind of life. One of the organized-in-theory parts of my life is my to-do list. In fact, I may have To-Do List Syndrome. For instance, writing this blog post is on my to-do list; and as soon as I finish it, I’m going to cross through this task and do a mental happy dance.

But I make to-do lists too often and don’t complete the tasks on my to-do lists often enough. I have so much to do! I have to register for classes, practice piano, write a new article, and the list goes on. There’s always more to do. As soon as I feel satisfied because I finished a big job, I realize there are six more “big jobs” to do.

I don’t have the perfect solution to make your life less hectic, but I do know that you can be satisfied with work because it is actually good for you!

“But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need” (1 Thessalonians 4:10b-13, NASB).

“For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread” (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12, NASB).

It’s good to have work to do! It provides purpose (and food) in your life. If you have too much time on your hands, it’s easy to give into sin, like Peter mentioned in 2 Thessalonians. God graciously gave us work so that we wouldn’t be bored at home all day and so we could have food on our tables and roofs over our heads. It’s easy to daydream about a long day at home with nothing to do. However, a lifestyle like that would become boring very fast; and we’d probably feel depressed and purposeless.

But that’s only one end of the spectrum. What about the other end? Is there such a thing as putting too much emphasis on work? Of course!

I think most of us give ourselves too many tasks to complete. If you’re anything like me, you shoot high but usually end up low. I set so many goals for a day, but I only end up meeting a few of them. Then I feel like I’ve wasted all of my time (and usually I have wasted a large part of it) and that I’ll never get anything accomplished.

It’s hard to find the balance between having too many goals and not having enough goals, but this balance is important. Ideally, you’ll be busy enough to feel purposeful but not so busy that you’ll constantly feel stressed.

Don’t worry. You’ll find the balance. It may take time to find it, but the balance is there.

To-do lists are not evil. In fact, they can be incredibly helpful. Checking off a task brings satisfaction. Just remember that making your goals too important is sinful. Our most important goal should be to bring glory to God by completing the tasks He sets before us.

God gave us work for a reason. We struggle with it because of sin, but it keeps us busy. It gives us purpose, but working ourselves to death is silly and exhausting. Set realistic expectations for yourself, and if you don’t reach every one of your goals, shake it off and work on it tomorrow.

How Our Words Hurt

Story #1

   “Have you heard about how Jane tripped at school today?” Sarah asked her friend in the hallway as they walked to science class. “She looked like a little fish. I wish that I had taken a video of it. I bet that she won’t walk down that hallway for months!” Sarah’s friend giggled and they continued to retell the event in even more detail than before and not without a few additions of their own.

Little did Sarah and her friend know that Jane was walking right behind them and heard every word that they said. What they also didn’t realize was that Jane did not just brush their words off. But, they sank deep inside her and made her feel silly and foolish. That little story hurt Jane a great deal. 

Story #2

   Jane was sweaty, her legs hurt, and she didn’t think that she could run one more step. She wanted to quit and go home. “You can do it!” Sarah yelled, “You’re so close. Just a few more yards!” Hearing Sarah’s voice, Jane willed her legs to go farther. She wanted to win the race – not only for herself but also for her friend who was cheering her on from the sidelines. As Jane crossed the finished line, Sarah shouted her name in excitement and gave a high-five to congratulate her. “You were great! Let’s go celebrate!”

Words. They are powerful. With words, we can build each other up, but we can also tear one another down. That is why it is important that we encourage one other with our words – not gossip and lie about one another behind each other’s back.

But no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
‭‭James‬ ‭3:8-12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

 

Just a Piece: God Has a Great Plan Even Though We Don’t See It.

 

Financial difficulties, moving away from home, the death of a relative – these are all things that cause us to feel worried, lonely, and/or discouraged. Why does this happen? 

Looking at all of these things, I see that we have no control over them (unless you are the person who is deciding to move the family). Also, in the cases of moving and losing a loved one, you miss someone and wish for that fellowship which you enjoyed so sweetly earlier to be renewed.

The following poem was written while I was wrestling with why I didn’t understand God’s perfect plan. I was wondering why difficult and painful things had to happen. The poem reflects the way I felt during that time of sadness and how I found peace in God’s flawless plan for my life.

Just a Piece

Why is this happening? 
I don’t understand! 
Things have gone wrong. 
This shouldn’t have happened. 
I can’t comprehend 
All that has taken place. 
What will this mean? 

God, I need you 
To get through
I can’t do this on my own. 
Please show me, What to do. 
To struggle through this 
By myself 
Would be painful. 
Please show me Your plan 
That I may do Your will. 

“I have a plan for you,” 
God says,
“But you have to trust me. 
Because to you, 
It might not make sense. 

“You see, your life is a piece. 
You have just a piece of my plan. 
A piece in a plan for this world, 
That is greater 
Then you can imagine. 

“Though this time in your life 
May be painful and tough, 
Remember that you have 
Just a puzzle piece In my big picture.

For His Great Name