We are all told these days we need to be brave. Everyone is hearing the same message. Just do it. Go for your dreams. You can be anything. Be bold. Be Courageous. Be BRAVE. But how? How can I stop being a chicken and muster up enough courage when I’m scared out of my mind?
I looked at brave ones- Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Mulan, that character from Braveheart- William Wallace. Even Jesus. I would study the bravest of the brave, and couldn’t figure it out. Everything in me wanted to be more brave. I just couldn’t seem to find their ‘secret sauce’.
Then I found it (so I thought). They just weren’t afraid of what people thought! They bit the bullet and just did it. I started to say, “I don’t feel like it, but I will do it anyway!” However, I STILL wasn’t ‘doing it anyway.’ I looked deeper and realized- I am so afraid of what people think. That must be what I need to work on!
As I learned about the fear the Lord (to respect and reverence Him above all) I stopped worrying what people thought and concerned my heart with what He thought. People pleasing started falling off. But I was still clucking like a chicken. SCARED. OUT. OF. MY. MIND.
Anyway, who will really know if I don’t go for my dreams? I’ll be ok, because I never told anyone my wildest dreams- besides my husband. He will still love me. Then I felt the nudging again from my Heavenly Father. I remember what He asked of me and visions He gave me in the past of what He wanted me to do in our private times together. They are HIS dreams. He needs me to fulfill the work He created for me to do before I was born (Ephesians 2:10).
I asked the Lord to show me what being brave means for months. In the middle of watching 7 kids (Jesus can speak to you anywhere if you put on ears to listen!) I heard Him say: Brave ones are used to doing it afraid. I concluded years ago its either Him speaking to me or I’m crazy- and, well, both are true. He said His sheep would know His voice (John 10:4) and that whisper was like a shout that echoed in my heart.
A few days later, I wrote a song in 25 minutes that I had been trying to write for 5 years. I drank my IT WORKS ENERGY (which I don’t normally do, so I was double charged) and shut myself in my husband’s office (must have been his awesomeness anointing) while my dear parents watched my kids. Put On Your Brave was born that day.
I wrote it afraid. I will release it afraid. I will pursue my dream to share my heart with the world- all afraid! The more I do things afraid- the easier it gets. Fear is getting put in its place. Every step forward, fear fades, as I get more confident because I know and see the Lord right with me. I’m getting used to all the dangerous places. I’m on hunt to dominate more giants, and I’m getting used to doing it afraid. I believe so many more will go ahead and find it in them to PUT on THEIR BRAVE! I hear Him urging His sons and daughters to, “Put on Your Brave,” and to TRUST He will be with them!