What is being brave for God, really?  

Is it doing big things in big places? Is it conjuring up some hidden self-empowerment to step out boldly and brashly?

For the past few years, I’ve been listening to all the voices that shout “to achieve your dreams for God you need to build your platform. Be seen. Be heard. Be an influencer.”

Certainly, God calls some of his followers to big platforms which require big bravery. But you know what? They started with being brave in the ordinary.

Billy Graham first preached at small churches and on city street corners before ever reaching millions through radio and crusades.

Elisabeth Elliot first ministered in the jungles of Ecuador before speaking and writing nationally.

Mother Teresa left her order to live among the poorest of India long before meeting queens and presidents.

God may call some of us to do big things in big places. But he calls all of us to do brave things in the ordinary places.

I love seeing this in Exodus, where God chose to use the bravery of four women in their ordinary places to oppose the superpower of all Egypt.

Exodus starts with the story of these four women, some of the most marginalized and weakest by all economic, social and political measures. They weren’t just women in a culture dominated by men; they were also Hebrew slaves.

The first two were Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, ordered by Pharaoh to kill all the Hebrew infant boys as they were being delivered.

“The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do.; they let the boys live.” Ex 1:17

Summoned before Pharaoh and interrogated for their actions, the two midwives refused to back down. “So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous.” Ex 1:20

God may call some of us to do big things in big places. But he calls all of us to do brave things in the ordinary places. Share on X

The third woman was Jocabed, Moses’ mother who hid him for three months in quiet defiance of Pharaoh’s edict to kill all Hebrew infant males. When she could no longer hide him, she put Moses in a basket and set it in the reeds along the Nile.

How often Jocabed must have felt small and unseen as she hid Moses and then released him to God’s sovereign care.

The fourth was young Miriam, Moses’ sister, who watched over the infant Moses as his basket drifted among the reeds. This young slave girl had the courage to approach the princess of the mightiest empire at the time, to protect and safeguard her brother.  

Shiphrah. Puah. Jocabed. Miriam. We know their names not because they had a platform. They weren’t seeking fame or a following and nowhere does the Bible say they got any kind of recognition.

We know their names because they were brave in the ordinary places where God had them.

While God would later call Moses to do big things in big places, he called these four women to do brave things in their ordinary places.

What ordinary place is God calling you to step bravely into or through? Where are you feeling the tug to remain even when you long for so much more?

We can and should dream to do big things in big places for God. But not at the cost of the ordinary. Our brave starts in the ordinary places where God has us now.

 

Seven years ago, Lisa became a sudden widow and single mom to 7. As her family’s whole world was rocked, God was her very present Rock. Lisa’s heart is to encourage and inspire women to anchor their faith deep in Christ as the One who is true and faithful. Lisa is passionate about rich Bible study and teaches a weekly ladies Bible class at First Baptist Church, Jacksonville. You can find her writing at LisaAppelo.com and connect with her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lisaappelo/. 

 

 

Catch Up On Previous Made for Brave Stories…Here

Sisters, we are called to walk the way of hope instead of the way of defeat.  We must claim more than our title of “Daughter of the King.” We must step up and also claim our position.

And we must claim these together. As a sisterhood; a sisterhood of brave women who stand strong in the promises of who God is and who we are.

• We all are Made for Brave.
• We are made to live for something authentic and brave.
• In living brave, we silence the past, transform the future, and take a front row seat to God’s wild and uncontainable love!

So, I’m inviting you to join this Made for Brave Sisterhood, each Monday as we share our stories and allow God to bring hope and healing. Let’s commit to being authentic and brave, one step at a time, side by side, holding each other up and nudging each other toward our true selves. And let’s claim the victory waiting on the other side of brave; for ourselves and our sisterhood.

Let’s celebrate our tears and our struggles as we peel away the layers of fear to reveal the beauty of brave.

Let’s risk everything that brave requires for everything that brave has to offer…

Becoming who we were created to be!

In living brave, we silence the past, transform the future, and take a front row seat to God’s wild and uncontainable love! #MadeforBrave #Hope Share on X

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