Defining Brave

 

Have I ever told you brave is not easy?  Rarely ever is it easy.  If it were, it wouldn’t be brave it would just be…doing, I guess.

It may feel easy to push brave on someone else.  My daughter on the monkey bars, your son getting up in front of an audience, your husband going to a job interview.  Those people we believe in so much, we know them so very well, we never doubt their ability.  We know that they will soar, that they will shine and we will love them every time they fall trying.

 

 

But when it is you, and not them, it is harder. So much harder.

Sometimes brave is saying the hard thing and sometimes it is saying nothing at all.

Sometimes brave is taking that step forward and sometimes it is taking a step back.

It is leaning in and pulling away.  It is holding a hand when you are scared and there are no words. It is trusting The Word when it feels like all hope is lost.  Those feelings, they’re tricky, remember?

Brave is important, friends, so very important, but it’s not easy.

 

 

Did you read the verse on that image, friends?  Read it closely.  Strength and courage – brave – is a command.  Not a request or suggestion, not a good idea or lofty goal.  We are commanded to be brave.  This truth is here because God knew we would need it.

But brave takes discernment.  It needs a governor, a barometer, a compass.

Brave is not a license to let our minds and mouths run wild.  It is not a free pass to speak without regard, to trample others, to steamroll, bulldoze.  What if sometimes, true bravery is saying nothing at all?

Sometimes bravery is standing up and sometimes it’s bending low.  In service, in humility, in submission.

Sometimes brave is showing you are strong and sometimes it is showing that you, even you, are weak.

It’s messy friends, friends.  It’s complicated to define.  But it’s there just the same.  It the thick of it, there awaits a brave and righteous choice.

 

 

It is brave to love, to hope, to have faith, to believe.

Brave always flies in the face of fear.  Not because fear doesn’t exist.  Scary things most certainly do exist.  But brave chooses not to be overcome by them because braves digs deep.  It is rooted, grounded.

It can feel like a bit of a moving target, friends, defining brave.  It will be different for you than it is for the next person.  You cannot compare brave.  What scares you, what requires that you summon every ounce of courage, won’t even rattle your friend, your spouse, your mom.  Our scales are not the same.

 

 

It can be hard to make sense of brave, until we are rooted in a firm foundation of Truth.  Brave is not a slippery slope. It stands firm on Truth.  A Truth that runs deep, that sheds light, that brings order to chaos, peace in the storm and hope when it feels like there is none to be found.

 

 

Storms come, friends.  I can promise, they do.  Brave will mean more than monkey bars.  More than a quick pep talk and a wide smile.  Your hands may shake, your voice may crack and the tears, they may come when you are required to dig deep and be brave.

May I simply request that we be ready?

Right now, be ready.

Seek Truth, know Truth.  Grow in faith when the sea is calm so that you will have the strength to step out of the boat when the storm comes.  The heart work we do now, will make make all the difference when that storm comes.