I am not a brave woman. I never have been. In fact, I chide both my brothers, one more so than the other, of hogging all the "risk-taking" genes in our family! They lived dangerously on the wild side growing up while I grew up hoping that reading books from a tree branch four feet off the ground counted as the wild side. Needless to say, they had more fun. :) I still choose the risk-free route whenever possible and when I happen to find myself in circumstances requiring any level of bravery, you can bet I never raised my hand to volunteer for them. I comfortably operate with a deficit in my bravery account and a surplus in my fear account.
One day this summer while on vacation at the beach, my dad jokingly made this "profound" statement, "There is risk involved in everything." We all laughed and even used that line against him in many jokes to follow, but I began to realize just how much truth those six words held. Since Adam and Eve's disobedience in God's perfect garden, this imperfect, fallen world has experienced risk from every direction.
"The whole book of Proverbs can be summed up with these two equations: Obedience to God = Blessings, Disobedience = Consequences." ~Angela Thomas
Crime, disease, poverty, injustice; the list of suffering is endless. We can become so gripped with fear that any hint of bravery sends us running back into our comfort zone and forfeiting our chance to be brave. Trust me, my comfort zone is my favorite place in the whole world! I am quite content with not being a brave woman. Let some other chic have that title, I'm good right here. But that's not where God wants me.....or you. The risk-free climate of our comfort zone leaves no room for the glory of God to be revealed.
"We all feel a tug at our heart and a stirring in our soul for more, but we are often afraid to venture past our comfort zone. Outside our comfort zone, though, is where we experience the true awesomeness of God." ~Lysa TerKeurst
Living inside our comfort zone gives us a false sense of independence and control; whereas outside that comfort zone we are acutely aware of our absolute dependence on God. It is where we push fear aside and trust our God and His purposes for our life. Outside of our comfort zone is where we become brave. When we get to the very edge of ourselves, that's where God makes us brave and accomplishes abundantly more than we could ever image (Ephesians 3:20-21). Brave women have a Jesus-story and a God-size testimony where His glory reveals His awesomeness!
I am not a brave woman. I never have been. But I want to be! I want to live in the "abundantly above and beyond" God designed for me. All He asks for is my obedience. I need to be willing to say "Yes" to God. Step out of my comfort zone and trust all the risks to Him. Risk is a two-sided coin; failure or success. However, since "there is risk involved in everything", I must simply be obedient and let God make my failures His success. That's how He leads us to the blessing.
"God absolutely loves to take ordinary people and do extraordinary things in them, through them, and with them." ~Lysa TerKeurst
I am not a brave woman, but I am an ordinary woman. Messy and afraid, but bravely willing to be God's vessel. Obeying His call. Knees knocking, hands trembling, and having lost my ability to make spit. I will become brave through my obedience to God. I will be brave, I will be obedient, and I will be forever grateful for the blessing of God turning my ordinary into His extraordinary. What an awesome God we serve! Be Brave by being Obedient, and be prepared to be a Blessing! The world is reading your story......let them see God's glory!
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