You Will Need to Be Very Brave
Yesterday I was sitting, selling books at a farmers market, and suddenly, in my spirit, I heard the Lord say, very clearly, “You will need to be very brave.”
As the US takes its place standing against the Islamic state in Iran, partnering with the Holy Land in doing so, I am more and more convinced that the season ahead of all of us will require incredible bravery. If a global war, perhaps even a third world war, is ahead of us, the Bride of Christ will need to face the days ahead with bravery. If the conflict ends swiftly and we return to a quasi-moment of peace globally, bravery is still needed to face the cultural war we continue to find ourselves in.
Bravery is a word we often see used in fairytales or superhero stories. We tell our little ones to be brave and go down the big slide at the park… but what does bravery look like for us, in our day to day lives? If God is saying that we will need to be very brave... what does that mean?
When I was in Israel a few months ago, I experienced something that I never had before: singlemindedness.
The Messianic/Christian prayer movement in Israel is all about one thing: the return of Jesus. Everything centered around that one thing. Yes, they prayed for the nations to be saved or neighbors to be healed, but it was all pointing to the second coming. From a place of clear vision like that, incredible determination and a deeply rooted in peace kind of bravery shone more brightly than I’ve ever seen.
A sweet friend in the prayer movement there said something that has stuck with me. She said that the hard things mentioned in scripture just before the second coming MUST happen so we shouldn’t pray against them. What?!
John, the Beloved Disciple, the Revelator, wrote that the events of Revelation are the things that “must take place” and we know that in our head but not in our hearts, nervous systems, or the way we plan our lives. When a woman is nine months pregnant, she and her husband prepare for her water to break, contractions to begin, and dilation… not just for there to suddenly be a baby. All of those other things must happen first and to hope or pray they wouldn’t happen wouldn’t make any sense.
How does all of this tie back in to bravery? When we understand that there are a number of hardships the world must endure before we see our Bridegroom return to the Earth… it gives those events purpose, it helps us to endure, knowing the end result. We will endure to the end if we remember who we are ultimately waiting for.
The days ahead will surely be hard AND they will surely be glorious. We will see the glory of the Lord revealed through fire. We get to be brave. We get to do that by keeping our eyes locked on Him. We get to bravely have JOY when others despair. We get to carry hope when things look hopeless. We get to take a really clear look at our lives and realize what matters and what doesn’t. We get to refuse to back down or let go of our Biblical convictions in the face of cultural tension even if it costs us. We get to wake up every single day and choose to have faith in His faithfulness instead of giving into the fear mongering of the evil one. And in the end of all of this? We get Jesus.
So, dear friends… be brave. Keep your eyes on Him and let Him make you brave.
