by Chandra Peele

It’s 11 at night and my family and I leave for vacation before dawn. In preparation I made a to-do list, and, knowing that I don’t function well at 4 in the morning, I’ve double-checked the list to assure everything and everyone is packed so that I can basically sleepwalk to the car.

I’ve checked off everything but “write article.”

Funny, “write New Hope article” was the first thing on the list but the last thing I’ll do today.  Only by the grace of God do I have the energy to write these words, but when I am weak, He is strong.

Life is preparation; each day that passes, each opportunity given, the ups and downs, the good, the bad, the joy, the pain, each circumstance, each season—every one is preparation for the next God-size experience or task.

What is God preparing you for?

When I was 16 the Lord called me to full-time ministry. Not knowing what that would look like I began to look for opportunities to serve and doors began to open. At 19, while volunteering in my youth ministry, the Lord developed my passion for students. They need a friend, a mentor, someone who is growing in the faith alongside them. They need encouraging and accountability.

After years of working with students the Lord gave me a vision in which I was speaking to thousands of girls. I shared the vision with friends and family and I got mixed reactions.

  • How can you ever do that? You didn’t even go to college.
  • You are a woman (as if I didn’t know) and no student pastor will have you speak to their teens.
  • You didn’t go to seminary, how can you speak to students?

Instead of letting those negative comments get me down, I clung to the Lord and fell in love with His holy Word. I never saw the word can’t but over and over I realized that with His power in me I can! I read stories about ordinary people, people God used to accomplish the extraordinary.

Reading His Word I got to know Him intimately and my confidence grew because of who I am in Him. His power at work within me began to accomplish more than I could imagine (Ephesians 3:20) and my zeal for the Lord could not be contained.

Today, 30 years later, God has made a way. I’ve spoken to thousands using the Bible as the absolute standard for living the Christian life. I’ve shared the gospel with thousands and witnessed many come to Christ. I’ve preached in Cairo, Egypt, at an open-air church gathering located within a Muslim neighborhood. Soldiers stood on guard outside.

Chandra and friends in Kenya.

God has also made a way for me to minister to students in Sudan, Romania, Mexico, Kenya, South Africa, and here at home in the US. He’s given me the opportunity to speak in schools both here and abroad, to pray with mothers whose children were dying, and to comfort hurting teens in the name of Jesus.

No, I never went to college but God had a plan. I’m an author and have published 5 teen Bible studies, and my sixth, Power[Full]: The Power of God in a Girl, will be released this month.

My first ladies inspirational book is in the works and, oh by the way, this summer I’ll be speaking at Blume 2011 to thousands of girls!

I could go on and on about all God has prepared me for and what He has done in my life. For now I’ll close with these key words to live by, appropriate for believers of all ages:

  • Be prepared. Know Jesus personally.
  • Be real. Be yourself.
  • Be humble. We are nothing without Him–powerless.
  • Be ready.

Don’t sleepwalk through your Christian life . . . tap in to the power of Christ in you.

Be encouraged!

Chandra Peele, author of Cherished, Priceless, and Radiant, is a highly recommended speaker and author endorsed by pastor and author Max Lucado; nationally known youth speaker David Nasser; Christian contemporary artist Natalie Grant; author and speaker Jennifer Kennedy Dean; and many more.