A recipe to live bravely

In the movie Sing 2 it looks like Buster Moon’s dreams of taking his local show to the big time will come true when an influential scout attends his theater’s performance. Buster’s cast nails the show, but….the scout leaves halfway through telling Buster he doesn’t have what it takes. Buster is crushed and starts to lose belief and confidence in himself. Have you been there?

Has someone told you you can’t? Said “you don’t have enough….”. Made you feel like you’ll never have what it takes?

Listen, there are some things we’ll never be able to do. I’ll never tour with Elevation Worship, have my own cooking show, or break the world record for a marathon…and that’s okay, because God didn’t plant those dreams in my heart. But what about when we know the Lord is calling us into something and we still get a rejection?

Welcome to life.

Several of the Old Testament prophets were rejected and ridiculed. Mary Magdalene was the first person Jesus commissioned to share the Gospel and the disciples didn’t listen to her. The Apostle Paul was chased out of towns, beaten, and stoned for sharing the messages God gave him. But we’re not measured by the world’s standards. We are children of the One True King. We are Christ’s ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20). And so…we are called to do the work God calls us to do… no matter what the world says.

Easier said than done. I know first hand. I get loads of rejections. But those “nos” aren’t what the Lord asks me to look at. Jesus asks me to keep my eyes on Him and what He calls me to do. He’ll give me the right opportunities. Sometimes that looks like writing books or teaching at church events. And sometimes that looks like this Substack article you’re reading or a social media post or a conversation with a friend. All of them matter. All of them count.

Back to Sing 2. Nana Noodleman sets Buster Moon straight saying, “Never mind what this person you don't even know said. Do YOU think you're good enough? Then you must fight for what you believe in. Guts, stamina, faith. These are the things you need now.”

Nana almost gets it right. Yes, we do need guts, stamina, and faith to pursue our God-given callings, but we can only get guts and stamina through our faith in Jesus. Any other power supply for these things will run out. But when we plug into Jesus, He offers an unlimited supply of courage and perseverance.

The prophets, Mary Magdalene, and Paul all had guts and stamina—they had them because of their faith. They had the guts to do the thing they knew might not be popular and might meet resistance. After they’d been rejected (some of them many times) they had the stamina to keep going. They had guts and stamina because of their faith—the faith to believe that Jesus had commissioned them, empowered them, equipped them. That Jesus promised to fight for them, give them everything they needed, and never leave them.

Jesus promises the same to you and me. Do we have the faith to believe it? If we do, God will give us the guts and stamina to take the next step into our callings today! Praying you feel it in your soul—not in your own might, but in the power of the living God who commissioned you.

Ready? In faith, let’s step forward to the things God is calling us to.

xo, Laura

For more inspiration to live bravely, listen to my conversations with Jo Saxton about how to bravely dream again and how to bravely say yes to God with Rebecca George.

Spotted pool side: Grab a copy of Brave Woman, Mighty God, complete with reflection questions at the end of each chapter, to learn more about how God is equipping and empowering you to do brave things.

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