Brave and Afraid
We have been taught than we are either brave or afraid and the truth is most of us are brave and afraid at the exact same moment. Moses speaking final words to Israel said “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you He will not fail you or forsake you.” Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. In other words you have to be brave at the same time as being afraid. In the New Testament there is the story about Philip who invites an Ethiopian high official into a conversation about Jesus. In this story we often miss the fear and bravery it took to approach the chariot, like Israel, like Joshua, like Philip, be brave face your fear and invite someone to take a closer look at Christ and his church.
