Breathe AgainSample

Choosing Brave

Brave isn’t who we are or are not. Brave is the choice we make when we come face-to-face with hard. It’s what we do when we’re staring down pain and heartache, our dreams are blowing away in the harsh winds of change, and we choose to step out toward life and living.

It’s brave because there is always an easier, safer option. It’s easier to not be honest and vulnerable when we’re consumed with anxiety and don’t know where to turn. It’s easier to say we’re fine when we’re not and to refuse help when accepting it risks admitting we’re weak. But if we want to move through the raging storm our life has become, we have to step out scared. 

Brave is saying “I’m having a tough day” when someone who cares asks. It’s trusting God when you’re still angry at him, and it’s saying “I’m scared” for the first time since elementary school. It’s accepting help as unreformed control freaks, and it’s relaxing in a bubble bath with a large glass of wine when your to-do list is as long as a roll of toilet paper. 

Choosing brave will be different for each of us, but the ripple effects of each small brave choice will travel through our storms and the darkened skies of those around us, calming the waters as they go. 

Camouflaging reality with smoke and mirrors is an easier, tempting alternative for sure. Yet as we learn to walk bravely into the hard stuff, we step into a life that would otherwise elude us. 

I don’t know the specifics of your story, but I do know this: you have a spark buried deep within you crying out for more of what God has for you. Take that hunger and use it to fuel a brave choice today. I’m the one inviting you—encouraging you in my best English accent and offering all sorts of incentives—but at the end of the day, God commands you. How can you say no when he’s promised to go with you? 

Dear Lord, I’m scared. I want to choose brave and thrive in this painful time, but it’s so hard. I need your peace when I’m afraid, your joy to lift my spirits, your wisdom to make the best decisions, and your love to tell me that, come what may, all will be well in you. Amen.