Brave

2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV)

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

I have done some adventurous things in my life.  Some of those things include Winter camping in -17 degrees, canoeing through Canada, repelling off the side of a mountain in Colorado and I even tried cliff diving once.

I won’t lie. All of those things took guts.

There is always something that is outside of your comfort zone, and as soon as you conquer that, it’s going to be something else. So how can you be courageous enough to handle whatever comes your way? How can you be brave enough to jump off a cliff into the water?

I promise you, you can. And it’s easy!

If you want to jump off cliffs into the water, this is the one simple step you need to take—jump in the water!

Whew! That’s easy, right? No?

I’ve discovered that many people want to know how to be free from fear, but they want an answer that removes all responsibility from them. People want to hear, “Do not worry. If you say these three words, God will take over your body and do the scary stuff for you.” No matter how many times you ask the Word of God how to be courageous, you will never find that answer. You have a part to play, but remember, I said it would be easy! All you have to do is jump in the water, and God will take care of the rest. You can trust God to take care of you.

The hardest part is always just saying yes. When you understand that, jumping gets a lot easier!

Courage is doing something even when it looks scary because you know you aren’t doing it alone. All you have to do is jump—say yes, step out—and God will meet you there. Don’t worry about what comes next, just jump!

It takes courage to share God’s good News with your neighbor or the stranger you meet while out walking.  Remember to just jump in ad ask God to give you the words to say.

Dear Lord, we thank You for the courage You give us. Help to not be fearful but filled with Your love and courage so that we can do great things for You. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.