I’ve had this post rolling around in my mind and heart for a few days, and I’m still not sure exactly how it’s gonna come out. It’s just one of those things that needs to, you know?
I can’t tell you the number of times people have told me “You’re so brave!” or “You have such strong faith!” when they hear I’m planning to hop another plane to Kenya or when they hear what happened while I was there. And, I never know quite what to say because the truth is:
Going to Kenya doesn’t require as much courage of me as people seem to think it does.
It’s like going home.
Leaving my husband and kids? That requires faith. A good bit of it.
But God made me with a desire to go. He created in me a heart for adventure. It’s just part of who I am.
The things that require the most faith are not the things that come most naturally.
They are the things we have to do when every fiber of our being is screaming “NO!”, but the still small voice whispers, “Yes.”
That’s brave faith.
The kind of faith that says, “God, I don’t want this, but I trust you.”
The kind of faith my friend has as she places her future and her fertility firmly in God’s hands this week.
The faith of a precious new mom who pushes fear aside and puts on a game face so she can listen to what doctors say and understand what they mean.
I mean, do you think Abraham put Isaac on that altar without a supreme victory of faith over fear?
No, brave faith is the kind that follows the example of “author and perfecter of our faith” who prayed:
“My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39)
The Message Bible says it like this:
“My father, if there is any way, get me out of this. But please, not what I want. You, what do you want?”
And, he didn’t pray this once. Verse 42 says, “He went away a second time and prayed, “My father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
And, finally, “He left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.” (v. 44)
But, do you know what? Regardless of the fear he must have felt as he faced the cross, He walked the road that God laid before him because he is the perfect example of brave faith, faith that finishes.