Today I have the honor of hosting Lauren Salisbury, author of The Legacy Chronicles, as she discusses what God taught her about a woman’s strength: within fiction and in life. I hope you’re as blessed by her words as I was:
Finding Strength
There has been a lot of talk recently about what makes strong female characters, whether it is their ability to wield weapons and kill their enemies or to get out of trouble without the aid of men. Some say it is the way female leads problem solve while others focus on their witty comebacks and feisty personalities.
I think women can be strong in many ways, not just those portrayed in popular fiction. I also think the most interesting form of strength is internal—emotional, mental, and spiritual—rather than physical. It takes strength to raise a child, to love when we are hurting, to walk a different path from everyone else, to forgive and move on. It is getting up each day while suffering from chronic illness, walking into school with the knowledge that bullies wait inside, trusting God to eventually work something good out of life’s current madness, or living according to faith when others ridicule and condemn those principles.
Some of my favourite Bible characters are barely mentioned but so strong and courageous—the women who were instrumental in the life of Moses. When I stop to think about their lives and the decisions they made, my admiration only grows. Imagine the constant fear of discovery Jochabed must have endured while hiding her infant son, or the agony of leaving him in the river. I am not sure I would have been able to do what she did.
It is also difficult to comprehend the terror felt by a slave as young as Miriam on approaching a member of the royal family, or the quick thinking that enabled her to reunite her mother and brother. Likewise, what courage would it have taken for the Egyptian princess to go against her father’s orders? What repercussions would she have faced both initially and through the course of Moses’s childhood?
Her actions, especially given her station, always astound me, and when I think of the position she put herself in, I find her such an inspiring woman. Moses’s story would have been vastly different had she ignored his cries or looked on him with less than pity. God surely placed him in her path most deliberately.
In reading about these women, I have realised that, to me, strength is synonymous with faith, and that true faith is giving all to God and being willing to follow Him into the dark abyss of the unknown. It takes courage as well as trust to truly allow God to lead in all areas of life and to step out in faith rather than give in to fear.
That said, I have also learned that the process is circular. The more we trust, the easier it is to step outside our comfort zones, and the more often we do that, the more confidence we can have that God will be there to meet us.
My own life has been filled with moments where I have had to be brave, trust God, and keep going. Years of being bullied in school forged the core of my faith at a young age. Long-term health problems in my twenties refined my reliance on God’s promises. Leaving an established career to start my journey as an author has tested my courage in many new ways. There is something intrinsically terrifying about putting pieces of myself out there for people to see. But I am still here, still believing, and still moving forwards.
That is why it is so important to me to include these themes in my work. I write about women with faith, courage, and strength, and I hope those who read my books will see the incredible examples they set for us today. I want my writing to encourage others to be brave and bold knowing that God is always with them. He might not fix everything straight away or make our lives perfect, but he sees, he cares, and when we run out of our own strength, He gives us His.
This happens in Strength with Reemah, who has no knowledge of God and serves His purpose unwittingly. She reminds me that God can use anyone to accomplish His goals, even non-believers, and He cares enough about all of us to be active in the lives of those who do not yet know Him.
I wanted to show not only her personal courage but also how God bolsters and comforts her through the trials she faces. He guides Reemah subtly, allowing her to feel His presence in small, simple ways until she can be introduced to Him properly (later in the series). Until then, He is the calm assurance that all will be well in the end.
Thank you for taking the time to read about how the women in Exodus inspired me. You can discover more of their reimagined stories in The Legacy Chronicles.
Learn more about this series in my earlier blog post here and in the links below.
Links:
The Legacy Chronicles – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07G69G81W/
Courage – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07954NGNS
Conviction – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FB5LBVF
Strength – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PX4DXN7
Website – http://www.laurenhsalisbury.com
Newsletter sign-up – http://eepurl.com/djCo0z
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/gillascourage
Twitter – https://www.twitter.com/gillascourage
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/laurenhsalisbury
About the Author:
Lauren H Salisbury was an English teacher for sixteen years with an MA in Education. She is now a writer who dabbles with tutoring and lives with her husband and a room full of books in Yorkshire, England. She likes to spend winters abroad, following the sunshine and becoming the seasonal envy of her friends. When she’s not writing, she can be found spending time with family, reading, walking, crafting, or cooking. The Legacy Chronicles is her debut series.
Teenage slave girl Faru’s life has been turned upside down when she discovers she’s been traded to a new master, forcing her to leave all she‘s ever known. Upon her arrival, Faru meets a friend, Cailean, who helps her adjust to life in the strange location. Life settles into a new pattern, and romance blossoms between the young friends. But as soon as they plan to get married, another proposal comes about – one that cannot be ignored. Being a slave means not always marrying who you love.
