Recently I received a parcel in the mail with the attached tag enclosed. On the reverse side it says, ‘inside this parcel is a special piece that was crafted with care… and sent to you with love’.
I loved what the front of the tag said more though ‘Brave Soul’!
I am currently in the process of working through items needed and equipping myself physically for a long journey up ahead. Part of that ritual required me to purchase the product that came with this tag.
After all that has transpired in the past few years, I must admit I am a little intrepid at venturing far from home but this tag has now encouraged me, I can be brave!
About 8 years ago I wrote a blog on something very similar… (read below)
I imagine this young girl who is prepared to take on anything …. maybe a little intrepid but certainly resolute and Lion Hearted.
There is a song called ‘Brave’ by Nichole Nordeman - it has been on my heart over the last weeks…but what has been speaking to me is one line in the chorus ‘you make me wanna be brave’.
So long status quo, I think I just let go You make me want to be brave The way it always was is no longer good enough You make me wanna be brave Brave, brave
Do you feel BRAVE? Do you want to be BRAVE?
There is a saying by Veronica Roth ‘Dauntless: being brave in the midst of fear’. In the dictionary, it describes the word ‘dauntless’ as “incapable of being intimidated or discouraged, fearless.
I know for myself that I would love to be BRAVE, fearless even dauntless but what it really comes down to is where it comes from on the inside of us, as Nicole has said in her song “cause it’s been fear that ties me down to everything but it’s been love your love that cuts the strings…..I say your name, just your name and I’m ready to jump”. The name of Jesus is what we need to focus on – I have heard as well that if you feed your faith, your fears will starve to death so then there would be no cause to be worried or concerned!
I attended a women’s event a few nights back where I heard a pastor from Riverview Church, Karen Wilson sharing on her new book ‘The Inside Story’ where she encourages that you need to ‘be BRAVE enough to tell your story’.
I want to be BRAVE but in that process, I am prompted by the word of God where we are not only encouraged to ‘come’ like Jesus encouraged Peter to in Matthew 14:28-31 but to also bring a part of ourselves to that ‘come’ by putting our feet out of the boat and onto the surface of the waves and stand in it! How BRAVE is that? I would definitely say that Peter was showing he was dauntless and incapable of being intimidated or discouraged in taking those initial steps!
Mark Batterson quotes; “if we are to receive a miracle we also need to give into the miracle”. So if I want to be BRAVE then what is God asking of me to risk, put out there, give over for me to show that I believe in this ‘BRAVE’ I am talking about and really meaning.
Over the years I have had to make choices to step out onto ‘rocky waves’ in decisions that have been hard and in some respects, cost me…. Moving interstate on the prompting of God, work choices, choosing to go on a missions trip when there was civil unrest happening in that country, supporting my husband & lifetime partner through surgeries, cancer & chemo, and many more.
But what actually constitutes the ‘BRAVE’ that God is asking of us? I believe it’s the resolve within our hearts like David showed on the battlefield when facing Goliath. In 1 Samuel 17:20-51 David is witnessing Goliath the Philistine stepping out from his camp and shouting his usual defiance, to then see the Israelites all run from Goliath in ‘great fear’!
David on hearing the taunts, straight away his heart swells with an attitude that ‘they can’t say that about my God's army’. I believe it’s that right there that sets him apart like Peter stepping out of the boat to Jesus, that ‘dauntless and incapable of being intimidated or discouraged’ attitude.
If you read more of David’s story, he goes to King Saul and asks “I will go – send me”. How many of us have really meant it when we have sung that song in worship when we have experienced His presence in an exceptional way - our whole heart is so overflowing with desire to be all and do all we can for Christ – I am speaking to myself here as well because I have done that….Or as David has shown can we step up to the mark with this exceptional ‘BRAVERY’ to believe that God will come through?
David’s experience in knowing how God has delivered him in the past gives fuel to his passion and conviction that His God will come through and in that – I believe is the ‘BRAVE’ we need to see.
As the story of David goes on he is not standing there in front of Goliath I believe with a sick feeling in his stomach about what he has to do (like a lot of us would about having to explain our Christian faith in front of others), I don’t believe he is regretting being here in this set of circumstances either (as most of us would) and I don’t believe that he would even want out at this stage – David started off at the very beginning with a knowledge in his heart that His God reigns and no one, not even this particular enemy can stand because of it so he chose to be used by His God to see truth brought about and Honour given to the most High God.
45 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands."
David standing on that battlefield that day spoke the prophetic over what was going to take place on that open field that day but also knew in his heart that His God was going to come through for him to bring Glory and honour on the name of the God of Israel. WOW what a ‘BRAVE’ heart for God and an awesome display of not being intimidated or discouraged!
I want to give honour to my Christ and Saviour Jesus today in telling my story;
He was amazing in bringing about my husband and I to the opposite side of the country 30 years ago on a very purposeful journey to the west.
He has been very instrumental in allowing me every job that I have undertaken on my journey over the years, which I believe have all been orchestrated from the Lord.
The Missions trip I took in 2008 not only totally transformed me but God opened up some amazing doors back then that my husband and I are now reaping from, which is enabling us to be a blessing to others both home and abroad.
And most of all I give honour to the Lord for walking with us every day for our continued health.
Stand your ground to be BRAVE today!
AMEN!
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