So many people tell me that I am brave for traveling the world as a missionary. I didn’t really think I was doing anything special. I am just doing what God told me to do, which I guess, does take bravery. It takes bravery to share your story with a group of teens in another language. It takes courage to share the gospel with some strangers you meet at a hostel. But I don’t do it on my own strength, that’s for sure.
Maybe God is telling you to do something different. Be a stellar stay-at-home mom. Be a business owner with integrity. Serve your country in the military. Fight for injustice. Be a compassionate nurse to the sick.
Who knows? God calls us all to different things.
The simple fact is, it takes bravery to go after what God has called you to. He called you there for a reason, and it probably won’t be easy. It takes bravery to say yes to God. It takes bravery to go against the grain of our culture.
Maybe you have crazy dreams that you want to go after, but you are afraid of what people will think. I wonder how many presidents were thought to be crazy when they told their mothers their plans to run for president? How many entrepreneurs set out to start their own businesses but feared failure?
I’m not going to tell you to not be afraid. But I will say this: do not let fear keep you from your dreams or push you into the mundane.
But even more important than overcoming fear is allowing God to make us brave. On our own we may be successful in the world’s eyes, but we need the Lord to give us the bravery to do great things for the Kingdom.
I have recently been obsessed with a song by the band Bethel called “You Make Me Brave”. The lyrics are simple, but powerful:
You make me brave
You make me brave
You call me out beyond the shore into the waves
You make me brave
You make me brave
No fear can hinder now the love that made a way.
Will you go where he is calling? Will you allow him to make you brave?
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and sound mind.” –2 Timothy 1:7
