Land of the Brave

Fear isn't one loud voice...it is often a thousand small voices, whispering words of doubt and confusion. People say that I am brave, and maybe I am, but I don't often feel brave. No one hears the words I have to say to myself sometimes when I enter a crowded party, looking for friendly faces. They are not there when I give in to selfishness and insecurity and refuse to do something extremely uncomfortable but that would bless someone else. People think bravery has to do with the epic, glaringly obvious exploits. If you save someone from a burning building at the risk of your own life, you are brave. Agreed, that is brave! If you move your entire life to a foreign country to preach the Gospel of Christ where the Gospel is met with hostility and hatred, that person is definitely brave and acting (hopefully) under the direction of the Lord. Bravery means something a little different to me. Dictionary.com defines bravery as: intrepidity, fearlessness, boldness, daring, prowess, heroism, pluck, spirit, audacity, nerve, mettle, spunk. Perhaps that all holds true.

I had the privilege of attending a Christian University in Oklahoma for two years before earning my BA and moving back to California. During those two years, without fail, twice a week we attended a chapel service where the entire gamut of preachers, teachers and Christian role models would speak to the students for an hour. At the time I thought it was cool, but as students we tended to belabor the point that many of the preachers touched on subjects we felt were not beneficial. One particular Wednesday, a favorite, Bill Wilson spoke to a hushed chapel full of students. Though I cannot remember his entire message, I remember his admonishment to us. There is darkness everywhere we look. He himself was shot several times in his hometown of New York and lives to speak of it. Evil runs rampant all around us. We are tempted to throw down our hands and cry out and curse the darkness. That is what many of us do...I hear Christians daily condemn the world and its state of affairs. We curse the society that applauds fornication, materialism and does not bat an eyelash at perversion. But Bill said that we have a choice, we can choose to curse the darkness or we can choose to light a candle and shine light on the darkness.

Bravery. We are all brave when we choose to look at the darkness all around and shine Christ's light. Talking about it is NOT the same as doing it. When we pray for God's kingdom here on earth, we are asking for the light to dispel the darkness! Each time we share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a person, we are bringing light to a darkened soul. I want to be brave at all times, not caught up in personal struggles like fear of failure or abandonment. God will never leave us nor forsake us. Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. I need not fear failure nor abandonment! I will curse the darkness in my own soul and light a candle, burning ever brighter and yet brighter still!