I originally sat down to write a completely different blog post. I was struggling to write it, and I stopped and prayed that my words would be true. If I’m going to write this blog with the hope of it being a true testimony of what God is doing, I want to be certain I am always a good representation of Jesus. One of the quotes I was going to use for that blog post was from Nehemiah 6, but as I read through it again, I stopped on this verse, and I knew what I needed to write:

When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.

Nehemiah 6:16

When our pastor read aloud that verse last night at our Wednesday Night Bible Study, it stood out to me more than the rest, for one reason:

When I was in college, I came up against a lot of opposition and not just in my writing. I have a group of people surrounding the experience that I alluded to before that could very easily consider me their enemy. I called a situation out, and though I know it was the right move, it was not a popular move. I had professors and classmates and even friends against me – some even explicitly threatened my life.

But, when I read that passage above it struck me: I don’t wish anything against these people, not one of them. If anything, I want people who were a part of this situation to see what God is doing and producing in my life, and I want them to see God. Not me. Not “my” accomplishment. Just like the enemies of Nehemiah and the Jews realized that the wall had been rebuilt with the help of God, I want especially the people who were against me in this situation to read my writing and see God and begin to follow His Son.

I realized I have to tread carefully in my writing. The book I am writing is loosely based off of this situation, but this book is not a vindictive work. The purpose of this book is to bring to light a situation that is prevalent in a university setting. But, the second, and even more important purpose of this book is to point to God.

I am not writing Christian fiction. I have never desired to write that genre, but I have struggled with the idea of writing secular fiction as a Christian. I always wanted to write secular fiction, but how could I do it in a way that is glorifying to God?

My hopes and prayers are to write a book that makes people stop and think. I want people to wonder what is different about this book, and upon researching, stumble upon this blog. The heart of this blog is the backbone of my writing, my raison d’être.

If anyone from that situation finds this blog, I hope that they realize my prayer is what Joseph said in Genesis when speaking to his brothers who had plotted to kill him and sold him into slavery:

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

Genesis 50:20