“Bran thought about it. ‘Can a man still be brave if he’s afraid?’
‘That is the only time a man can be brave,’ his father told him.”
-George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones
“Harry – you’re a great wizard, you know.”
“I’m not as good as you,” said Harry, very embarrassed, as she let go of him.
“Me!” said Hermione. “Books! And cleverness! There are more important things – friendship and bravery…”
-J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9
you make me brave.
Bravery. It’s something we’ve grown up learning about. Innumerable fairytales divulge accounts of daring knights fighting valiantly for the one they love, of do-gooders and battle-fighters and world changers. Starry-eyed little girls stare at the pages of their storybooks, wishing a handsome man on a white stallion would whisk them away to some distant, beautiful castle where life is easy and animals talk (and clean your room for you). Little boys don fake armor and wield plastic swords, imitating the brave soldiers they idolize, wishing so badly for superpowers to fight the world’s evils with.
And all for what? So that we can grow up to live in fear everyday until we die? So that we can grow up to form to the mold of America, to a 9-5 job that pays the bills but drains our souls? So that we can stay in unhealthy relationships because we are crippled by the thought of anything different?
Because for most of us, those are just stories made up to entertain young, childish minds. Bravery isn’t for grown ups. Bravery is for kids so they can get to sleep at night without jumping into bed with mom and dad. Bravery is for books and movies and superheroes. Bravery is for William Wallace and Scottish people with blue paint on their faces. It’s something you grow out of.
Bravery isn’t very logical and isn’t very calculated. Bravery is more than just risk. Bravery is saying I know I’ll suffer, but I’m doing it anyway. Bravery is saying I know it’s dangerous, but I’m going anyway.
Totally absurd.
Absolutely worth the cost.
The bible is full of it, too, if you weren’t aware.
Remember Abraham? Remember how God asked him to leave everything he knew to go to some land that He would show him? Remember how He told Abraham to trust that he would make him the father of many nations, even though he was OLD, as was his wife, Sarah?
And then there’s David who waltzed on up to Goliath and killed him with A SINGLE STONE.
And then there’s Rahab who hid spies in her house in Jericho.
Oh, and Moses, who like…freed all the Israelites from Pharaoh’s terror and then ran across the dry bed of the Red Sea God had just parted as the Egyptians were coming to get ‘em all back/probably kill a handful too.
Daniel, Isaiah, Jacob, Isaac, Jeremiah, Joshua, Ruth, Esther, Peter, Paul, John, JESUS. Shall I go on? This walk we’ve started, it is drenched in bravery. Do you know that? Whether you are in a den of lions or studying for finals wondering the heck this summer/year/life is going to look like, when you have Jesus you have bravery at your fingertips.
And yet all of us stare at it like it’s not ours, like it’s behind a glass case, only for sale for the rich and the mighty. That’s the lie Satan has fed us and boy is it curbing our appetite.
Another lie he likes is the form bravery takes. We think bravery has to be this monumental, life-changing, crazy adventure thing. And while that is one shape it takes, there’s so much more to it.
Maybe it’s having absolutely no earthly idea what comes next, but sitting in peace before the Lord until he tells you. That is BRAVE y’all.
Maybe it’s graduating college and moving to a new city with about a million people you’ve never met before and hoping to find good community. Courageous doesn’t even begin to describe that.
Maybe it’s being a first time mom; or a fourth time mom.
Maybe it’s talking through your anger instead of holding it in til it bursts like a firework (only in a way less wonderful way).
Maybe it’s saying bye to someone or something, however hard that may be.
And maybe it’s going on the World Race, leaving the country for 11 months, and praying God would break you and build you back up and break you again. Maybe it’s knowing that showers will be infrequent for the next year, and going inspite of the fact that your hair needs the everyday-kind-of-washing. Bravery, in all forms.
Through all of life’s mountaintops and trenches, through crashing waves and still waters, God makes us brave. He is the epitome of bravery. He is our good shepherd, our servant King, our friend, our redeemer, our brave and valiant knight. And he’s not interested in making us play the part of damsel in distress. He’ll rescue us from it and then mold our hearts towards courage. He’ll teach us as he keeps every promise he’s ever made. He’ll show us with his unconditional love. He is for us. He is our Champion. And he wants us to be apart of his kingdom work. He wants to see us fight his fight with the bravery he sent coursing through our veins.
So as graduation looms over many of us in these next weeks, as new jobs and new places and new friends make their way over the horizon and into reality, I want us to see that bravery is ours. Know the Lord is for you and he wants to see you succeed. He’s a good dad and he is cheering you on.
So be brave.
Let Him make you brave.
And in the most cliche words I could think of, let him take you to your dreams and beyond.
Inspiration goes to Bethel’s new song/album “You Make Me Brave”. It is my life anthem I’ve decided and I can’t. get. enough. of. it. Go make your ears and heart happy by buying the whole thing on iTunes right this very second. You’re welcome.
