The Five B's: Brave

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

The Five 'B's' of a Godly Woman: A Blogged Bible Study

Syllabus:
July 29 -- Intro
Aug. 5 -- B1: Brave
Aug. 12 -- B2: Beautiful
Aug. 19 -- B3: Bold
Aug. 26 -- B4: Bride
Sept. 2 -- B5: Becoming
Sept. 9 -- Conclusion


A Godly Woman is Brave

Brave: 1) Possessing or displaying courage (the state or quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger with self-possession, confidence and resolution; valor); Valiant (possessing or acting with valor (courage, boldness, bravery); brave, courageous, stouthearted); 2) Making a fine display; splendid. Applies to admirable human action in difficult conditions; frequently associated with an innate quality.
(The American Heritage Dictionary, slightly paraphrased for brevity)

Brave: Possessing the ability to pursue an action or maintain a moral stance even when afraid of possible painful results; proceeding in the face of fear. (ahem - my definition).

What the difference is between brave and Bold (that's lesson 3)? what qualities distinguish bravery from boldness enough that they were listed as two different characteristics? I'm not going into boldness here -- I AM going to save it for the post in two weeks -- but I will say that what I came up with was boldness is behaving from a position of lack of fear, while bravery is being afraid...and doing it anyway.

If you look up 'Afraid' and 'Fear' in the concordance, there are many, many entries entreating us to trust God and not be afraid. Here are just a few:

"Do not be afraid of any man, for judgment belongs to God" - Deut. 1:17

"The LORD is my light and my salvation -- whom shall I fear?" - Ps. 27: 1

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." - Josh. 1:9

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." - John 14:27

On the other hand, there are also numerous scriptures exhorting us TO fear -- God. Again, a small sample:

"Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God." - Lev. 25:17

"Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing." - Ps. 34:9

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom..." - Ps. 111: 10

"Better a little with the Fear of the LORD than great wealth with turmoil." -Prov. 15:16

"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both body and soul in hell." - Matt. 10:28

"Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king." - 1 Pet. 2:17

So, how to reconcile the 'Don't be afraid...but fear' message? I think the key is in 1 Corinthians 2:14: "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." We still have a flesh...a 'man without the spirit' in us, even after the rebirth that makes us spiritually alive. This part of us, our flesh, is still subject to fear. The spirit in us is not afraid, but knows to fear and honor God.

Bravery is the choice to follow the spirit, which is the fear of God, rather than give into the flesh, which is just afraid. The flesh, or to put it another way, the old nature, the self, is afraid of lots of things:

In my self, I'm afraid of pain and suffering -- physical and emotional.
I'm afraid of rejection, I'm afraid of failure. I'm afraid of being left alone. I'm afraid of poverty. Lots of fears.

In my spirit, I know that God will give me all I need. I know God will never leave me or forsake me. I know that any failure, rejection or pain I endure by following Him will serve a purpose and will be requited by Him when that purpose is served. I know, so long as I choose to obey God, He will take care of me in all ways...so why should I be afraid of anything? I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.

But the flesh is still there, and the flesh voices its fears loud and long.

To be a brave woman of God, I must daily face those fears, and choose to fear God instead.

And do it even when the flesh is afraid.

"When I am afraid, I will trust in you." - Ps. 56:3

Closing Thoughts: In what ways have I allowed the fears of the flesh to determine my actions in the past week or month? What would the fear of the LORD have directed me to do in those situations, had I listened to the Spirit? What lesson can I learn from that to enable me to follow the Spirit's leading next time my fears confront me?