Brave New Year

Here it is, another year brand-spanking new & chock full of unforeseen challenges & blessings, fears & failures, losses & gains, heartaches & joys... & as I stand at the edge of it, about to jump in not knowing the depth or what's hidden under the surface, I'm choosing to be brave & hopeful.

Bravery is a lot like trust to me.  Everyone wants to be brave & everyone wants to be good at trust {both are true of this girl}, but by very definition of each, one must experience the thing that is not wanted: namely fear & uncertainty.  If you're gonna trust, you've got to have some unknown circumstances or obstacles to be trusting about.  Likewise, to be brave, fear must be present.  Trust & bravery are not easy, slight traits.  In order to receive them  you must accept the packaged deal - you must see the dark clouds of fear & the thick fog of uncertainty & choose instead {quite counter-culturally & quite against our broken human nature} to look to your unseen God & keep marching, though blindly, knowing He is with you always & He will take care.  Bravery & trust {& their bouncing baby hope} are tough like warriors, steadfast as the rising sun, & they must be mastered again & again, because fear & uncertainty are always with us on this planet.  

In Christ, we find the strength - His strength - to face unknown, scary things {like this new year} bravely & with hope.  In His Word He has told us not to be afraid & to put our hope in Him, because He does not disappoint or abandon & what He says is always true.  I hope you keep that close as you jump into this mysterious 2015 year.  God will be with His children 24/7/365, & as it says in the last part of Matthew 28:20, "...even to the end of the age."  Because of this - because our loving, perfect Father is always with us - bravery, hope, & trust can be ours today & throughout this brave new year.

Bravery, Hope, Trust, & 
Love For This New Year,

-Bess-