On Being Brave
Who is the first person that comes to your mind when you think about BEING BRAVE?
When I was young, I remember learning about Amelia Earhart and how she was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean-I thought she was BRAVE. In my young adulthood I heard the true story about how my husband’s grandfather had an opportunity in the 1920’s to become a wealthy man and hold a high official position in the Turkish government if he was willing to deny his faith in Christ. He was BRAVE and would NOT deny his faith in Christ and therefore was to be put to death by execution. But God had a different plan for his life and a greater purpose for his future and miraculously his life was spared. He was BRAVE! Ten years ago when my husband received the news that he had cancer, we all had to be BRAVE!!! Every step of the way, through all the decisions we had to make and every year since, when he gets his check-up he has to continue to be BRAVE. Many people have ongoing trials in their life that require them to be BRAVE-infertility, cancer, loss of loved ones, wayward children, aging parents, chronic illness….the list goes on and on….so the question I ask of myself and I want to ask of you is…When have I been BRAVE?
This weekend, I attended a women’s conference called Be You Be Brave. 
I was completely refreshed and encouraged to take a deeper look at my life and to pay more attention to the opportunities that come up in my life where I can be BRAVE. There was an ongoing theme that God uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things. He can and will give us the strength to be BRAVE in the big things and in the day to day routine of life. We were reminded of the great people of the bible like Moses and Joshua who were asked to take giant steps of faith to lead the Israelites out of Egypt or into the Promise Land and how they depended on God to make them BRAVE. Whether we are standing in a season of a dry desert in the wilderness or on the brink of our River Jordan about to enter our promise land, we can be BRAVE if we trust in God and His unchangeable character. In the midst of a trial or a challenging situation, He will show up in our life, with a chance for us to be BRAVE, if we are willing to trust Him and give Him our full attention. We might be afraid, we might be in pain, we might feel insecure. It may not be a convenient time and we may need to endure the hardship without understanding the purpose at that moment but we will be able to be BRAVE!
Sometimes being BRAVE, means leaving some unhealthy things behind, letting go of old behaviors, old habits, old thinking patterns. Sometimes being BRAVE means moving out of our comfort zone into the unknown, into the place where we feel alone and insecure and unable to move forward. Being BRAVE means we have to make BOLD choices, BOLD moves, BOLD sacrifices and have BOLD hearts. But being BRAVE means we can dream again.
Like Moses and Joshua were BRAVE, we can be BRAVE. Our story of being BRAVE can change someone’s life………so as we were encouraged at the closing of our conference……… “It is time to put our BRAVE on!”
What hard thing are you willing to do to be BRAVE?
