#AtoZChallenge: Qualified

One thing I struggled with in writing this blog series was how qualified I was to talk about worship leading. I started leading worship while in youth group (because hey, when you’re young, you can do anything!) and then I took a break when I went away to study. Later, I continued worship leading in my home church and, several years later, in the next church I moved to. Then in late 2014, I felt that God was saying it was time to stop. So I haven’t been worship leading for a little over a year now (at the time of writing this) and I don’t know how qualified I am to pretend that I know anything at all about this subject when I’m not some famous worship leader or song writer, I’m not from some uber-famous megachurch and I don’t give sermons or preach about worship - or anything of that sort. I’m just a young woman trying to make a living by writing.

There’s this quote that says “God doesn’t call the qualified. God qualifies the called.” It’s one of those quotes that oversimplifies things because, hey, who doesn’t want a snazzy uplifting saying? Yet the truth of the matter is that we’re all unqualified anyway. We’re all sinners and no matter how we try to live by the rules, we’re going to fail somewhere or another. But Jesus has fixed that through His death on the cross. We come back to God righteous and holy through His blood and that is all the qualification we need. As long as we don’t purposefully go around trying to disqualify ourselves, He’s already got our backs. And whatever God is leading us to do, He has already qualified us for it.

So if I believe that God is the one who called me to write this (I started off thinking, ‘hey what a great A to Z Challenge Theme!’ and degenerated into ‘who the heck do I think I am to write this?’), then it is He who qualifies me and gives me the words to say. Similarly, even if you’re feeling like the smallest potato or the tiniest fish in the sea of worship leading, you’re in a small church where no one can carry a tune and all you have is a guitarist who gets half the chords wrong, don’t worry. Since God has called you to this ministry, He will carry you through.

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About the book:

Jane Hays has been told all her life that it’s dangerous to be out in the forest past sundown. At fifteen, she’s quite sure that it’s all old wives’ tales... yet, why does her village bar the gates every night? Why do they even have gates? When she is caught in an unexpected rainstorm on her way home, Jane ignores all the warnings and seeks shelter in a cottage in the middle of the forest. Soon, she is caught up in a world of magic and beauty – and in the storm of the Fairy Queen’s wrath.

The Fairy Queen is out for blood. There have been intruders – human intruders – in her domain and she will stop at nothing to find them and kill them. After all, it is only fair. She is only seeking retribution for the death that humans leave in their wake.

But Jane isn’t all that she seems to be. And the events of the night aren’t as innocent as they appear.

A tale of magic, fairy creatures and family, Coexist is a novella for the young and the young-at-heart.

Get Coexist on Amazon or Smashwords. Check out Book Depository or Createspace for paperbacks!