brave

2015 gave the word brave and it had its own anthem:

I stand before You now
The greatness of your renown
I have heard of the majesty and wonder of you
King of Heaven, in humility, I bow

As Your love, in wave after wave
Crashes over me, crashes over me
For You are for us
You are not against us
Champion of Heaven
You made a way for all to enter in

I have heard You calling my name
I have heard the song of love that You sing
So I will let You draw me out beyond the shore
Into Your grace
Your grace

You make me brave
You make me brave
You call me out beyond the shore into the waves
You make me brave
You make me brave
No fear can hinder now the love that made a way

Bethel Music – You Make Me Brave

And that theme carried me through the year as God called me out into the water and the unknown again and again and again. And in November I began to get a feeling for what His word for me would be for 2016. It was trust but it wasn’t. So I kept asking, seeking, praying. And God showed me how my fear, my lack of trust, causes me now to throw up walls, to push people away, to become hardened, almost in an instant. And then I knew, my word embodying the idea of trust, and taking a cue from a friend: soft. A softness that signifies being open, being vulnerable, being free from chains and walls and fear.

And already, only nine days into the year, it feels He’s asking too much and fear wants to wrap its ugly arms around my heart, and truth fights to keep the walls down, to keep my heart set free, and soft. And 2016 is given an anthem as well. A song to carry me through the unknown days and uncharted waters that lie ahead….

Letting go of every single dream
I lay each one down at Your feet
Every moment of my wandering
Never changes what You see

I’ve tried to win this war I confess
My hands are weary I need Your rest
Mighty Warrior, King of the fight
No matter what I face, You’re by my side

When You don’t move the mountains I’m needing You to move
When You don’t part the waters I wish I could walk through
When You don’t give the answers as I cry out to You
I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You!

Truth is, You know what tomorrow brings
There’s not a day ahead You have not seen
So, in all things be my life and breath
I want what You want Lord and nothing less

When You don’t move the mountains I’m needing You to move
When You don’t part the waters I wish I could walk through
When You don’t give the answers as I cry out to You
I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You!

You are my strength and comfort
You are my steady hand
You are my firm foundation; the rock on which I stand

Your ways are always higher
Your plans are always good
There’s not a place where I’ll go, You’ve not already stood

When You don’t move the mountains I’m needing You to move
When You don’t part the waters I wish I could walk through
When You don’t give the answers as I cry out to You
I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You!

Lauren Daigle, I Will Trust in You

“There’s not a place where I’ll go, You’ve not already stood” – Whatever this year holds, He’s already been there. Whatever tomorrow brings, He is good.

Here’s to 2016: a year of brave trust and staying soft.

For His Glory ~

Signature

You don’t think of yourself as fearful. You have faced big things and overcome. You have put up a fight and don’t back down. You are stronger for what you’ve been through. You do not cower or run.

A fearful person is someone who sleeps with a gun under their pillow or freaks out over your kid with a head cold. A fearful person is someone who watches too much Fox News and has countless buckets of freeze dried food in their basement. You are not that person.

But then you wake up and realize it is fear that is paralyzing you. Fear of the future and change and every good thing. Fear of letting others in. Fear of being let down or being a let down. You find yourself riddled with fear and you find yourself captive to it. Your heart walled in by a prison you built to protect yourself. And you know that you were not made for captivity, but for freedom. Not for fear, but to be brave. And so you claim Brave as your word for 2015. You choose to step out and do brave things. You risk falling. You risk failure. You choose to tear those walls back down, brick by ugly brick, until your heart can see the sun, the Son, again, and feel it shining warm and free. And on His wings, you will fly.

Here’s to a new year and God always doing a new thing.