I received some news last month. I didn’t see it coming and I didn’t know what to do with it.
S0, I just kept on going.
Isn’t it funny how we do that?
A friend and I were walking in the morning and the news finally spilled from my lips.
She stopped and took me by the shoulders. “What are we doing? We need to pray!”
I loved that I didn’t have to be brave for her. That I didn’t have to put on a good front. It was okay to say that I didn’t see this news coming, and that it was bigger than me.
Later that week I sat on the floor. Sun spilled through the windows. I put my head in my hands and I was honest with God, just as I had been with my friend.
Lord, I don’t have the right words to say.
I don’t feel brave today. Maybe tomorrow I will, but for now I’m coming up empty.
It was okay to allow Him to be strong for me.
To live free: You don’t have to be braver than you feel.
You don’t have to have all the answers.
God knows what we need before we even ask.
I don’t know about you, but that makes His presence a place I run to, rather than away from when life gets big.
Is your bravery running low today? Climb into that safe place where you don’t need words.
Suzie
To live free: Get real with God and with others
Scripture: Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace. .Matthew 6:6-10a (The Message)
Today: Maybe you’ve been avoiding God because you think you should have answers, or at least the words to share your need. Sit in His presence. He knows what you need before you even ask.
It is absolutely freeing to know that in Christ we don’t have to have the answers or even the words, because He knows all and is holding all things together…even our broken lives and fears of the unknown. So grateful for a God that can be brave for us when we don’t know how. Love you!
You are so right. There are times I just don’t have the words, but He knows. I am equipped, filled, loved, launched all because He knows what I need before I even ask!
Oh Suzie, life has been big lately, but God is bigger. And it’s so good to know that I don’t have to be brave. God touched me with courage as I wrote my not-so-brave post.
Thank you, Betsy. You live in a zero zone and you’re showing people Jesus. My hero!
Thanks Suzie for your message today. I’ve been having a hard time lately coping, and have felt ashamed.
Love you Mom.
I love you, mom. You are brave beyond words. You are a survivor and a part of my heart. I’m proud of who you are.
Seems like I have always tried to be the brave one – on the outside…serving in the ministry you have to be strong. people expect you to. even when they know you’re world is falling apart. they think your faith is all you need – when actually a hug, a I’m praying for you, a card, an act of kindness sent your way… all the things you do for others – that selfishly – you want done for you…. I have had several life-changing, heartbreaking things happen in the past 5 years. Only when I can sit in my quiet place do I find the strength to be brave. To take that deep breathe and leave my room and go out. Yes, still trusting God to glue together the brokenness and make me stronger.
Today I am reaching with a hug from across the nation. I think we’d be stronger in ministry if we could be honest about “those days.” We all have them. So, from one ministry girl to another, here’s a hug and a thank you for what you do.
I love this! So often we think it’s all about putting up a front so that people will think we’re brave–while we’re actually being ‘not brave’ by keeping everything inside of us and thinking we can handle it alone. Thanks for the reminder :).
It’s weird, isn’t it. How we don’t expect everyone around us to be brave. We’re happy to lend a listening ear, to pray for and with our friends, to help those in need. So why is it that we feel we must be brave beyond our fears? We all do it! Maybe if we all share with such open honesty like you have, we can gradually lose that “must-be-brave face” we wear!
love th whole of ths..it’s giving me courage!!!