Living to Make a Lasting Difference

by Alexis Ragan

Sophia is the Greek word for Wisdom, and Propel Sophia seeks out the voices of truly wise women and asks them to share worked examples of how they express faith in daily life. Pull up a chair at Sophia’s table, won’t you? There’s plenty of space.

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As an artist, I delight in how the Lord creatively communicates with us in a vast array of ways. Each time I slow down to capture them, I feel as though He is speaking directly to me. Whether it's through a word, a landscape, or another person, they never fail to inspire me to carry out the message of the moment in my own life.

One afternoon, I was mesmerized watching a stranger on the beach as she pressed her foot down determinedly in the same spot again and again, even though the waves kept threatening to wash her foot’s imprint away. I found myself wondering what kind of “imprinting” my life was doing as I live for the Lord.

Do the Next Right Thing

I often return to the phrase missionary Elizabeth Elliot consistently referred to when speaking on living a life of diligent obedience to the Lord: “Do the next thing.”

From finishing a routine task to encountering a total surprise, “the next thing” in this fleeting world could very well shift in the blink of an eye. But Elliot’s advice has stayed with me as a reminder that everything I do with my days holds value in Christ who has done it all. And if everything I do can matter, then I can live to form the lasting imprint God has called me to make in the life He has given me.

Later on in the poem, these lines would follow:

Do it immediately, do it with prayer;
Do it reliantly, casting all care;
Do it with reverence, tracing His hand who placed it
before thee with earnest command.

What a lively reminder to hesitate less and be spurred into action with and for Jesus more! I find the real beauty in these lines are revealed in the dynamic between the speaker, a faithful servant, and God, the ultimate Shepherd. In truth, their fruitful “doing” is only possible because He is present and leading the way.

I am reminded of Galatians 6:9 when it says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

I don’t need to do it all. I don’t need to do it perfectly. But I need to do it faithfully over a lifetime.

The woman at the beach was nowhere near the white-flag waving stage of forfeiting just because waves were ready to erase her footprints, and neither should I be when I center my pursuit wholeheartedly on Jesus. As 1 Corinthians 15:58 states, my “labor in the Lord is not in vain,” but rather in passionate praise of Him!

Leaving a Mark of Love

Ultimately, I too desire to get out there and say to the world, just as the girl at the beach communicated, "I will leave my mark, I won't give up!" Similar to the deeply embedded footprint, even if the impressions of Kingdom work aren’t visible right away, every child of God can still be confident there is an eternal difference being made. From afar, I thank that stranger for her tenacity in inspiring this very article I found myself writing.

When I take a deep breath and remember that being with God will always supersede doing for Him, I am content to know that the most important work is forever finished in Jesus Christ. Afterall, the joy of being active in the body comes not from operating out of my own strength, but from the Spirit who propels me to be sent out, to serve others, and to share the loving flame of Christ to all that pass my way.

ALEXIS RAGAN

Alexis Ragan is a creative writer and worship singer, or as she delights to think of it, a literary vessel for Christ’s light to dwell, convinced that art serves as a powerful window of worship that helps lead humanity back to God’s heart. As a seasoned ESL instructor who is passionate about poetry, music, and global missions, she one day plans to blend her love for writing and teaching for the sake of the Great Commission. Connect with Alexis online here or on Instagram.