I have an enemy who wants to destroy me daily.
He hides behind me whispering doubts in my
ear, he hides behind others and taunts me, he tries his best to connive and
steal everything from me. Because he
desperately does not want me to courageously step up to fight against him. And
he definitely does not want me to be brave.
Bravery is the
ability to confront things withOUT fear. It is a character trait, a muscle, of
sorts, that grows with our confidence, an action born out of our courage. An
experienced rock climber, for instance, scales great mountains and rocky
terrains with confidence because he has learned the technique, and he knows
that his supports will hold and when he jumps to that ledge or crawls out of
the valley, he knows exactly how to grab hold. He is brave because he took the
first courageous steps to learn how to do it.
The first time
the rock climber leaned over the ledge or looked up at the impossibly high
mountain, when he was learning, it was scary, and it took courage to step out
or go up because it was an unknown. Courage is not the absence of fear, or
doubt. Courage is being able to do something that scares you, being willing to
step into an overwhelmingly difficult situation, to face pain and heartache in
SPITE of being scared, because of the reward that lies somewhere in the
distance. Courage says the struggle is worth it. The pain is worth it. Courage builds bravery muscles. Courage helps the rock climber keep trying,
even when they fall, courage helps them build their muscles, and get stronger, and
courage gives them fuel to keep going.
And one day, they step out on that ledge with bravery, and little to no
fear, because they have learned and grown and know now with confidence what
they can trust in.
I’m pretty
positive that God is trying to grow my bravery muscles! It’s hard and painful and takes effort. To
build a muscle, after all, you have to break it down. And he’s trying to grow
yours too! He says so tons of times in
his Word. Joshua 1:9 is a well-known one…
”Have I not commanded you? Be strong and
courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will
be with you wherever you go.”
He didn’t say
be brave. He said be courageous, don’t
let fear control you. And then I love
that he says “Don’t be afraid because I
am with you!” He didn’t say “Don’t
be afraid because you can do this!” He
said “Don’t be afraid because I
can do this!” Like the rock climber’s
supports and safety harness, God is our support and our safety. He’s there to catch us and we can rest in
him. We can strengthen our bravery
muscles by learning to have courage in Him in those scary moments. OUR safety harness LOVES us deeply and cannot
fail! Courage says,” I know I can’t do
this, but I know HE, the ONE holding ME, can.”
Another verse
that jumped out at me lately in reference to this is I John 4:18
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts
out fear. For fear has torment. Whoever
fears has not been made perfect in love.”
Ya’ll, I’m here to tell you firsthand, fear
does TORMENT us. It is the enemy’s
favorite tool. It keeps us from being
courageous, it keeps us from resting in our safety harness of God’s perfect
love, it keeps us from going anywhere near the edge of ourselves, and it keeps
us from growing braver. It keeps us
frozen down in the valley, lost in the dark, looking up at the mountains, but
scared to reach out and move. Fear holds us prisoner.
If you’re
afraid of that next step today, that ledge that God is calling you to step out
on, take heart…for our safety harness surrounds us and he has overcome the
whole world! So let’s go together, close to the edge of ourselves and be
courageous and build our bravery together! It’s okay if you’re scared. Just
hold to safety harness and get out of that valley! Go be courageous!
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