When Brave means Stepping Scared

I was scared. You prayed. I stepped. And now I’m one step braver.

That’s how it works.  It’s that simple and yet that hard at the same time. That one step right in front of us, one small step at a time, braver. And each time we learn – a little more about ourselves, a little more about our fears and a little more about God and how this brave things works.

Last weekend I learned a few more things.

10 Things I’ve Learned About Stepping Scared

1.  You won’t die.  Usually.  I think.  At least I haven’t yet.  But here is the thing – you will feel like it’s quite possible.  You may feel like the wind has been knocked out of you.  Your hand may shake so badly you couldn’t put your eyeliner on straight if you tried (true story.)  But stepping scared will not kill you. And eyeliner is always optional.
2. God will grow you most when you are beyond yourself, because only then do you truly realize how much you need Him.
3. Duck taping the control pack for a cheek mic to the back of your dress really is a feasible option.  Because a belt clip…in a dress…with no belt, is not a feasible option.  I have no idea where this will take you in life, but I think friends should tell each other these kinds of things.
4. There is life beyond your comfort zone.  So much life. Don’t miss it.  Go there.
5. Brave is forever contagious.  Amongst your friends, your family, your children, and yourself.  Knowing you stepped scared (and didn’t die) gives you momentum for the next brave step.
6. It’s okay to be scared.  You don’t have to fake it, you simply have to lean into it.  You have to go right on and do it anyway.  When you’re brave enough to admit you are crazy scared, people dive in with you, they pray for you, they are mentally cheering you on.  Mental cheers count; they are effective!
7. Friends will show up in support of you.  They will offer up words of encouragement, send you a text and make you laugh when you feel like you might cry.  They will pray with you and for you.  Hang on to those friends who are in the arena with you and be that friend right back.  Good friends make you braver.
8. Critics will grow you, if you let them.  Criticism is not easy, but it makes us stronger.  It refines us.  It helps us realize what we are doing really matters to us.  Jesus had critics.  And He was perfect.  Be brave long enough and you will find some too.  Stay focused, stay brave.
9. There is grace for the brave.  If you are supposed to speak for 30 minutes but you tell the worship director that you are crazy nervous and will probably talk too fast and come up short, they have grace for that.  They have extra songs for that and tricks up their sleeves.  There is grace for the brave. Just step.
10. You are living for an audience of One. A little tunnel vision, remember? God has called you to do things – big things, scary things.  You have much to offer the world, your family, your church, your neighbors.  But life is distracting and living brave is scary, opting out is easy and fear is real.  There is freedom, so much freedom, in living your life for an audience of One.  It’s truly the only way to do this well.

 

All those things we feel – scared, not enough, ill equipped – they’re real.  You know what?  They may even be true to some extent.  But even more, even truer, is the amazingly big, amazingly real God who has told us that His power is made perfect in our weaknesses.  What more could we possibly ask for?  Even our weaknesses can glorify him if we are willing to use them.

Isn’t that just extraordinary, friends?

So dip your toes outside that comfort zone you’ve been hanging out in.  If He’s calling you out beyond the shore (and I promise, in some way shape or form He is!), it’s high time to get your feet wet.  I don’t type these words, cozy and sound behind my computer screen. I type them on the front lines, stepping scared, right beside you.

For those of you who have asked how last Sunday went, here is the video for you.  If nothing else fast forward and watch the Louie Giglio clip of the sun, stars and planets – it’s truly amazing.  And thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement, brave friends, it means the world to me.

Forsaking Fear; Living Brave from Grandview Nazarene Church on Vimeo.