Lilias Trotter (Inspiring Women in Missions, Pt. 2)

If you had to pick between serving Christ or getting rich and famous for your natural talents, would you choose to serve the Lord? Lilas Trotter did.

Lilias Trotter
(Inspiring Women in Missions, Pt. 2)

This week's devotions are written by my friend Jessica Hermann, former director of our college ministry at Great Hills Baptist Church.

- Pastor Danny

"Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me,
let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'"

(Matthew 16:24)

Lilias Trotter was born in England in 1853. She was a natural artist. She was completely untrained in painting, yet she would skillfully paint beautiful landscapes, inspired by the trips she and her mother would take across Europe. Her father died when she was young, and Lilias and her mother would attend Christian conferences together. Lilias would always take part in the outreach portion of these conferences. Through this, she found a love of serving other people and would regularly minister to those in inner-city London for the glory of God. It was a great passion of hers.

Photo credit: Discovery House Publishers, via Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)

One day in 1876, while on a trip to Italy, Lilias' mother found out that renowned art critic John Ruskin was staying in the same hotel as them. She sent him a package of some of Lilias' work with a note asking for his thoughts on them. What a total mom move! But it definitely worked, and Lilias was "discovered" as an artist that day. Ruskin invited Lilias to train under him, and he told her that if she would devote herself to art, "she would become the greatest living painter and do things that would be immortal." She began to train under Ruskin, but Lilas remained committed to her ministry in London. Ruskin grew frustrated and insisted that she must fully devote herself to her art if she wanted to be the best. He really required her complete devotion, and Lilias found herself stuck between two great passions.

The first passion: art. The path of art would cost her all her time. She had to devote herself to it. But she could easily become the greatest artist of her time. Fame! Money! Renown! It would all be hers.

The second passion: ministry. Lilias loved serving other people in Jesus' name and wanted to spend more of her time doing so. Art demanded all of her, and she wasn't willing to give up the other. So, much to Ruskin's dismay, she chose to follow the Lord and work for Him. It's not that one cannot paint and follow God at the same time, but Lilias said, "I see clear as daylight that I cannot give myself to painting in the way Ruskin means and continue to seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness." What a heart that was truly surrendered to the Lord!

While serving in London, Lilias had two good friends who were greatly burdened for the unreached peoples of the world. She began to pray for the unreached, and this path eventually led her to Algeria. There is so much from her life to share. As her interest in foreign missions grew, she found herself unable to pass a health check, and no mission organization would send her, so she moved to Algeria on her own with two other friends. She began ministry to Muslims in Algeria, starting with French-speaking people while she learned Arabic. There is so much of her life to discuss, but one aspect of her life that is really amazing to me is how the Lord brought her love of art full-circle.

Why would God give her all this natural artistic talent if she was just going to walk away from it all? Was it all for nothing? Not at all! Her artistic abilities ended up being a huge asset to her on the mission field. Her artistic talent was of great Kingdom-use. She wrote parables and stories about Jesus that shared the Gospel, then Lilias would illustrate them and make these elaborate Arab-style borders that people loved. These could be used across the entire Arab world! Before she could speak Arabic, she had her tutor translate Bible verses which she printed on decorative cards to pass out. They would give the cards to people in cafes, and sometimes cafe owners would read them aloud to the whole cafe! God used her artistic talents for His glory as she used them for Kingdom purposes. Her art helped draw people to Jesus.

Matthew 16:24 says, "Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'"

Christ calls for our complete devotion, and that is indeed what He is worthy of and indeed what is actually best for us. Although we all must submit all our other loves and skills and passions to the Lord and love God above all else, the Lord in His kindness can still use all of our talents and passions to bring Him glory. He invites us to surrender our talents to Him, and we will be amazed at how He will use them. Instead of using her painting abilities for her own gain for her fame in this life, Lilias Trotter opted to surrender to the Lord's will for her life, and God actually used her painting abilities to make an eternal impact in the lives of others.