One Brave Story, One Year Later
Today marks the one year anniversary of a death for one of my dearest friends.
She has walked through a full year. Three hundred and sixty five days of her life being one hundred percent different than what she’d ever dreamed.
She’s walked through birthdays, seasons, holidays, feeling every single ounce of the loss that was hers, so much so that at times she thought she’d lose her own breath.
There is no reason my friend should even be standing today.
But my amazing friend might just be one of the bravest women I know. Because on every single one of those three hundred and sixty five grief stricken days, she made a choice.
She made the choice we must all make.
If we are going to be brave…if we are going to live fully alive in the midst of our one and only life, we must choose to do this one thing:
Seek Jesus.
When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You,
“Your face, O Lord, I shall seek.” Psalm 27:8
As we begin over the next few weeks to look at what it means to be brave, you and I have to first answer this one question: are we willing to seek Jesus? To turn our eyes towards Him? To allow our hearts to hear from Him?
Because when I seek Him, when I open my heart to Him, I realize that He alone can offer me something I can never produce on my own. Something so life giving that I cannot turn away.
That’s what my friend did, for the past three hundred and sixty five days. She turned her eyes upon Jesus. She looked full in His wonderful face. And she received grace after grace, love beyond compare, the very strength to survive, and the courage to live.
And although I would often show up to encourage her to be brave, at the end of this year the very opposite has happened: she has shown me how to be brave.
Maybe you are mourning a loss, maybe despair is all around you. Maybe the idea of being brave is so overwhelming you can’t breathe.
Lift your eyes.
Lift your eyes, for the One who made heaven and earth is the very One who sees you right where you are.
Jesus loves you, oh, how He loves you.
He is for you, He is not against you.
No matter where you are, He is with you. Step by step, every single moment of every single day.
There is so much courage needed for the days ahead, but you might actually be stronger than you think. For God Himself is with you.
This song by Bethel Music “You Make Me Brave” has spoken strength to my heart. Take a moment to listen.
Spend time seeking Him. He will make you brave.
I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:13-14
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Our BRAVE Series is open, join us here. Earlier in the week we asked the question, what if you were brave? We are looking intently at the life of a Jewish girl named Esther and how her decision to be brave changed everything. To Subscribe, enter your email below and each study will be automatically delivered to your inbox.
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You are spot on… being BRAVE is a choice. And not an easy one. We chose to take that next breath… to walk that next step… to rise above the victim mentality… to believe God. I appreciate bravery. I want to be around BRAVE people. I need them to encourage me. Beautifully written. And I indeed love this brave friend of ours.
…she is amazingly brave and inspiring; the way she emanates love for her Jesus and spills joy on all she meets. An example for us all…