He Makes Me Brave

Synonymous with courage, the word brave is defined as, “showing no fear of dangerous or difficult things.” Some of us are in training to be brave from the moment we are born (being born in a very dysfunctional, abusive or alcoholic household, for example); some people who may be fortunate enough to have an easier time at life may not find themselves “in training” until much older. We are all on a different road that requires different levels of courage at one time or another.

I have found it interesting that those who are naturally born stubborn, strong or strong-willed tend to be those who face the most adversity in life, myself included, and I have personally learned firsthand that these characteristics are actually a blessing. These people are naturally more capable of handling much more in terms of crises and great trials of all kinds and yet survive strongly intact. What should have destroyed these people ended up fueling them to become courageous adults who seem to be unshaken when anyone else would fall apart. So what is their (our) secret?

Romans 12:3 says that all believers are given a particular “measure of faith.” I also believe the same is true of whatever it is in some people who are battered and bruised much more than the average Joe and yet remain strong and unmoved. Perhaps God gives us each a measure of bravery as well, knowing what we will each face in this arduous journey called “life.” Psalm 139:16 says, “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” Knowing what we would face individually in this life, our creator was gracious and kind enough to prepare each of us perfectly to face the particular challenges we would each face so that we would not become broken from the pressures of life.

For this reason, I cannot take credit when another person comes up to me (and many have as they have watched what I have gone through but still overcome) and remarks about how brave and strong I am. I know that in my own power alone and left to my own devices, I would have fallen apart in childhood, unable to endure what I was born into, and without a doubt I would have ended up destroying myself by time I reached adulthood in order to make the pain go away. Now in my 40s, I know full and well that it is literally a MIRACLE that I have even survived this long when I look back at the continuous flow of deep valleys I have gone through along the way. I sure do have a lot of battle scars, but yet I keep on going…

I used to hate the fact I was stubborn and strong-willed, but looking back I realize that God has created me with those tendencies knowing what I would face in a life ready to destroy me from the very beginning. Today, I am very thankful for that facet of my personality when I realized what this potentially saved me from. Think for a moment about some of your qualities that perhaps you too don’t like so much about yourself and see if maybe without those things, you too would not have survived this long. They could possibly be a gift from God in disguise. (Though not always)

Although I know I must have been born brave and that I grew up being brave, I have always considered myself a “girlie girl” who enjoyed wearing dresses every day as a child. Then as a teenager it was makeup, jewelry and high heels.

However, there is also a deeper, tougher layer to me on the inside, one who likes motorcycles, tattoos (though I do not have any), rodents, snakes and many other things that would make most girls run and scream. I have seen, done and experienced a lot of great adventures (nothing bad, just interesting) with gusto. For example, not just any female could go into a men’s Teen Challenge chapel service and, being the only female present, share her testimony regularly for over two years to a room full of rough looking, tattooed guys, some of whom look less than thrilled to be there (and feel completely at ease doing it). I got a few stony glares sometimes and it was usually easy to tell who the hard-core newcomers were. But because I knew without a doubt that the Lord wanted me to share my testimonies with them, he gave me the courage to get up in front of them every few months and share what he put on my heart to share with that particular group of men.

There is an even deeper, more unshakeable facet to what makes me Marie, however. This is a God-given level of bravery that is usually given to the toughest warriors. Why? Because our heavenly Father knew that some of us would be warriors in need of such a level of courage and bravery as this. There are a lot of things we could be fearful of in this life, but thankfully we are armed us from the inside out, in more ways than one. (Ephesians 6:10-18)

To all you other brave warriors out there, I hope that you know you are not in this fight alone! For this reason, you have nothing to fear! He gave you just the amount of “armor” you would need to be brave enough to fight your personal battle this side of heaven. Just be sure to stay close to him, trust him and be obedient to whatever he asks of you and he will do the rest. Just be sure to thank him for making you brave!