We are brave.

I want to highlight the word “are” in this sentence, I used it for a reason. I didn’t say – “We can be brave.” I said – “We are brave.” Courage is part of our character, for all of us, whether we know it or not.

If you think of it, braveness is just a series of decisions that we make every day that help us get to where we want to go, or even better, where we feel God leading us. Courage is not a feeling that we just gather up right before we need to do something scary or difficult, but rather, it is always in us, sometimes it just comes out more than other times.

We were brave and we still are brave. Bravery started from when we were a child, when we were discovering the world and trying things for the first time – going down the big slide at the park, riding a bike, climbing a tree, starting preschool and then elementary school, trying foods our parents made us try, etc. And bravery continues today because even as “adults” (“adults” meaning people like me who don’t feel quite like an adult yet, maybe a better word would be “young adults”), we try new things and we are still discovering the world around us even at this age. Many of us leave home to go to school or to get our first “real” job. We make decisions about our future, even if when we still don’t really know what we want to do. We make new friends, let other friends go, and try to stay afloat while the world seems to keep throwing at us new things and new decisions to be made. Real adults, you are still brave too. You finish school, maybe even go do more school. You may get married and have kids, and/or buy your first apartment or home. You continue to live life making decision after decision, and bravery is in the midst of all of that. And so is God. 

You see, God and bravery are connected. Many times in the Bible God tells us to, “be strong and courageous”, but I think this command can be applied to not only when we are making a hard decision or going far from home, but throughout every decision during our entire lives.

So whatever you are doing - whether close to home or far, whether it is the “norm” or not, whether with someone or solo - you are brave.