How have you been doing with Stepping Out now that you are beginning to grow in hearing from God?
My next top tip for growing in being used by God is to live courageously. How are you doing with that? Maybe you feel scared, nervous or even that a lack of courage is a road block to doing what God is asking you to do or say?
| Courage is… the ability to do something that frightens one; bravery. Or, it can be strength in the face of pain or grief. |
I just love all the synonyms for courage: bravery, braveness, courageousness, pluck, pluckiness, valour, fearlessness, intrepidity, intrepidness, nerve, daring, audacity, boldness; dauntlessness, doughtiness, stout-heartedness, hardihood, manfulness, heroism, gallantry; backbone, spine, spirit, spiritedness, mettle, determination, fortitude, resolve, resolution: guts, grit,spunk, gutsiness, gameness; informal: bottle, ballsiness; moxie and cojones.
I have never considered myself to be a particularly courageous person but over the last few years I have been on an adventure with God and I have grown in this area so much. My journey start when I signed up to do a course with other people who were all wanting to grow in hearing from God.
I learnt to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in my everyday life which has been fun but then I had to act on them! This is where the courage comes in.
Being courageous in a situation where you have to do something out of your comfort zone takes a great deal of nerve. But it’s about not letting the fear in that situation take over but choosing to do it anyway. You have to literally step through fear.
Once you get to the other side it’s such an amazing feeling and rush of excitement and you just feel Gods pride in you for being obedient (which we talked about in the last post).
I have learnt that courage looks different for everyone and what seems a big deal for one, another person finds incredibly easy. For instance, I am more at ease with speaking to someone on the street about Jesus than I am in singing a prophetic song over a friend. But, for you this may be something completely different like offering to pray for someone at school, college, work etc. or speaking a word of encouragement to someone who serves you in a shop or restaurant.
Ezra 10:4 “Rise up, this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it.”
I have also learnt this, that as you step out and depend on Holy Spirit to guide you, He will. What was once a scary thing to do becomes less so and the outcome is so worth it you want to do it again.
You begin to notice your parameters for courage change and what once took lots of courage has become easier and you can do so much more than you could. As this happens you are moving into deeper waters without realising it which is where all the adventure and fun is with God. You become more and more reliant on Him showing up and your relationship grows and flourishes as you press into Him.
I had a picture of a child learning to ride a bike and at first the stabilisers were on and the child was wobbling around but in no real danger of falling off. Once they had their balance the stabilisers came off and they had to learn to ride without them.
Then I saw a dad holding onto the back of the bike to steady the child so they could feel what it was like without the stabilisers but still with the security of feeling ‘held’. Then the dad started to let go a bit and the child was pedalling but still felt held. But, unbeknownst to the child the dad had let go and the child was riding independently.
Every time the child wobbled because they felt the hand let go of them the dad would grab hold again until they were steady.
I felt like God was demonstrating his fatherly love for us and how he has ‘got us’. Stepping out and doing ‘the stuff’ God wants us to do is sometimes scary and demands courage but, it’s how we grow. Whenever we feel wobbly He wants us to know He is there and whether you feel His hand or not He is there. He is looking on with fatherly pride at how far we have come.
