Real Women. Real Stories. Real Bravery.

Happy Monday!! Thanks for joining us today! We are blessed to have Andrea join us on our Live Brave Series! I pray that you are encouraged & reminded that YOU were created to Live Brave!

Hi friends! I’m gonna call you that since you’re here and I’m here and we’re sharing this space together today. You might be just waking up or maybe you’ve been up for hours and are just finding time to sneak away. Either way I’m glad you’re here.

When Candi asked me to share “about being brave” a few different circumstances came to my mind. I feel like I could talk for days on this topic, I feel like you and I could sit down for hours and discuss all the times we’ve been forced to be brave in our lives.

But as I was thinking about this and praying about this topic I felt God whisper to me, “Talk about the times you’ve chosen to be brave out of obedience to me.”

 Those times are the most impactful and those times are the ones that define my relationship with Jesus the most.

About seven years ago I was faced with one of the most defining times of my life, still to this day I look back on those events and how they have molded and shaped my perspective and faith. During that season I was laid off from my job. I worked for the church and during that time it was hard for me to wrap my mind around “how could the church do this to me?” This single event in my life defined me more than anything else in my life had before. More than my parents divorce and having an absentee father, more than literally failing a college course and having to retake it the next semester, more than letting people down that were close to me.

No, this event it changed me. It made me brave. It forced me to choose to have perspective in Christ instead of letting the questions surrounding the event take me over. It was during this season of my life that my perspective on God was challenged, and I had to make a choice. Was I going to believe who God had shown me to be, or was I going to choose to believe in the lies Satan was trying to tell me.

God has shown me since the events on that day in my life, and have stuck with me from then until now that being brave is all about trusting in him. Trusting that his word is who he says he is. Knowing that he’s proven to be faithful time and time again. Keeping my godly perspective in all circumstances.

Now I look at bravery in a whole new way. I look at doing small things as an act of bravery. Knowing that in both small and big decisions there is bravery and obedience that God has called us to. There’s choices all of us have to make every single day, some more important than others. Some big, scary and life changing. Some are small but still important. But, GOD he wants us to see his heart in all those things. He wants us to choose to align ourselves with Him and his word because in that alone will make us brave.

I am reminded of God’s love and protection for me when I choose to keep my heart and mind on the perspective he wants me to have through Him.

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day. Psalm 94:4-5

This verse reminds me of God’s gentleness towards us, that he’s always wanting to protect us and that he’ll always be faithful to us. We do not have to fear, we can be brave because he’s already gone before us. He is our refuge and our shield. We can live brave because of this.

Today I hope that you are encouraged that you can live bravely even in small ways, because God has already gone before you. The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still. Exodus 14:14

Andrea Worley lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and two children. She is passionate about connecting the hearts of women to the heart of God through authentic relationship and His word. Besides being a wife and mother she’s a creative at heart. Enjoying anything that she can be creative at including writing, photography and DIY projects. She also serves on the Thrive Moms leadership team, and online ministry for moms. She also has a self titled lifestyle blog where she encourages women to ‘celebrate the everyday’ focusing on that there’s something worth celebrating daily in this life God has given us. Visit her online www.andreaworley.com or connect with her on Instagram @andreamworley