Day 11....The Journey to #bebrave

AW Tozer wrote:

A scared world needs a fearless church!

Indeed, it does!!!!!!!

As this pandemic moves us further into abnormal, we're seeing the church being the church in new and diverse ways.

It's bringing about the need to do ministry creatively, yet in the creation, giving extraordinary opportunities (more people than ever are attending church services - it just happens to be virtual).

We're also seeing the Church (meaning, you and I) in isolation...quarantined.

The world about is worried, anxious, fearful:

Who wouldn't be when there are so many unknowns?

When life has lost any sense of stability?

There is no predictability...

Somehow, Church, we need to wander through this journey to #bebrave, put into practice what we know, and live out STRENGTH and COURAGE --- for those things should be synonymous with the word Church.

A commenter, on a recent podcast of mine, said this:

Big diff between being 'brave' and being courageous....

I didn't take this as criticism, in fact, for the most part I agree (though this statement is a bit semantical)...

Can I take us back to the verse I started with as a theme passage for this series? Joshua 1:9 (NLT), where The Lord tells Joshua:

This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Let's look at these key words from Strongs Concordance with Lexicon...

• Strong: to prevail, stick-to-it, be resolute
• Courageous: to be determined, to follow up on something in spite of fear.
• Afraid: to be frightened, to tremble, be "shaken"
• Discouraged: to be dismayed, shattered, broken...discouragement is a mindset that has been completely "shattered"...

When I look at the definition of "bravery, it conjures up a conquering of emotion...as if we've mastered BRAVE.

God never tells Joshua to "buck up" to "get over it"...

He just says, "Fear less..." 

He encourages, "Find your faith, walk in determination, live steadfast (in spite of the feeling)...and I am here!"

In fact, Church, we will never be brave in the sense of conquering the emotion of fear. 

We will always fear.

We will just fear less.

We will do #brave while shaking in our shoes...

And, the world needs to see this kind of faith.

The kind of faith that doesn't let the giant of fear win.

The kind of faith that stands out.

This kind of faith points a worried world to a Savior who is PRESENT to care for every need.

The kind of faith that says I have something that makes a difference in this broken world.

This kind of faith ultimately leads to hope.

And, we all need a good dose of hope.

Steadfast courage, even in the face of fear, plants seeds of hope...and hope in full bloom turns its face to the Son.

Jesus is still the answer...