Brave

My husband and I took our daughters to see Brave this morning. I enjoyed the story, setting and characters. I especially liked the fact that Disney Pixar added a strong mother figure to this film! My main take away from the film was that I need to listen to my daughters and give them opportunities, not expectations.

I've been thinking about bravery all day as a result of the movie. Who is brave? What qualifies one to be considered brave?

Early this morning I was reading the story of Abraham and I've got to say, Abraham was brave. Here are just a couple of examples of Abraham's personal bravery.  He founded a city from scratch. He married Sariah and then married a second wife when the Lord commanded him to. He endured and led his family through several famines. He nearly offered his first born son as a human sacrifice when God commanded him to.

The Bible is filled with stories of brave people: Moses, Noah, Ruth, Esther, etc.

In our day we don't have to sacrifice our children on alters, or take second wives, or build an ark, or free a nation from oppressive slavery. But we also have opportunities to be brave. We are brave when we continue.

Winston Churchill once said, "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

We are brave when we keep fighting the good fight. That fight is personal and different for each one of us. A leader of my church recently said, "God did not send us here to fail, but to succeed triumphantly." I hope that we will be able to dig deep and find the courage to keep fighting.