There are a ton of popular Pinterest quotes about courage, bravery, and “doing it scared.” Those are encouraging, yes, but how can we back these fluffy quotes with actual Biblical action? Sure, a leap of faith is great, but have you done one lately? There’s a lot to lose sometimes! Learn how to face your fears and boldly step into what God is calling you to do. Today, we’re covering 4 decisions for bold action with your faith.
CLICK PLAY TO LISTEN: EP 8
As we walk through these 4 decisions for bold action with your faith, know that it’s not always going to be easy. In fact, God emboldens us for a reason. Would we need this empowerment of the Holy Spirit if life were going to be a cake walk? I don’t think so.
Yes, speaking up and acting in faith can be scary, but here is where we take a look at these 4 decisions for bold action with your faith and move into a headspace where we know God’s going to empower us.
Decision #1: Believe Lies or Truth
When we come face to face with a spiritual prompting we have two choices: step into truth, or buy into lies. Hint: this is an either/or choice, and not choosing is, in fact, a choice. You can either believe lies, or believe truth. It is so easy for us to believe the lies of satan if we don’t know the truth of the Bible. The best way to know the truth of who God is and what He does is to read the word of God.
Fact: Even when we know God’s word, the enemy will still try to throw lies into our thoughts. This is where we make the decision to either buy into lies that hold us back, or step into the truth and move forward with God’s calling on our lives. Fact: God isn’t going to call you to something and not equip you. If He’s asking you to take a leap of faith, He’s going to give you everything you need to do that.
Scripture to Back this Up
Hebrews 4:16 says, “So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” How to we come to God? Boldly. When He calls us and we come to Him with boldness, we’ll receive his mercy, grace, and help.
Hebrews 13:6 says, “So we can say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?’” When we’re step into our identity in Christ by being bold for Him, we know that He will help us, so there is nothing to be afraid of.
Proverbs 28:1 says, “The wicked run away when no one is chasing them, but the godly are as bold as lions.” This verse is about attitude and confidence in Christ. When we make the decision to believe the truth of what God says, we are as bold as lion. We act out of confidence, not fear.
Ephesians 3:12 says, “Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.” Not only can we act in bold faith, we can come to God with bold confidence too. We can talk to Him about anything, and He can handle whatever it is we have to say.
Philemon 1:8 says, “That is why I am boldly asking a favor of you. I could demand it in the name of Christ because it is the right thing for you to do.” There are multiple stories in the Bible of followers of Christ calling on God’s power. We have that same power too! Use your resources, people! Satan is going to try to throw you off by making you think none of this is truth, but guess what? Every word of the Bible is true. Take that, satan!
Decision #2: Who’s Driving? Fear or Faith?
Now that you’ve decided between believing truth or lies, now it’s time for choice number two of the 4 decisions for bold action with your faith. Who’s doing the driving? Faith, or fear? Here’s the thing, you are unconsciously making this decision when it comes to living out your faith. You’re either making fear based decisions or faith based decisions. It’s time to make the subconscious, conscious. Here’s an example:
Gut check time: Think about the moment when you’ve been in the store, and you had the opportunity to tell someone about Jesus, but then you didn’t. What held you back? Were you afraid they were going to think you’re a weirdo? Maybe react in an unreceptive way? Big picture zoom out. If you’ve got Jesus in your heart, you have the cure to sin and an eternity away from hell. You have the cure and you’re actively choosing not to share the cure because someone may be offended, mean, or unreceptive.
Look, I know that was a bit spicy, and I am preaching to myself here too. We need this perspective shift: Souls are at stake, and you know what it takes for souls to be saved. What the people’s response is isn’t up to you, but taking bold action in faith is in your control.
Scripture Story Showdown
Let’s hop in the time machine and go way back to the Old Testament around 870 BC: 1 Kings 18-The Contest of Mount Carmel. If you’re looking to get some Bible reading in today, hop over to 1 Kings 18, and read the story for more details. Here’s a quick rundown of the showdown:
- There was a drought, and God told Elijah to tell King Ahab that rain is on the way.
- Ahab thinks Elijah is a troublemaker, so that isn’t a great start to the conversation.
- Elijah says, I’m rubber and you’re glue so you’re actually the troublemaker.
- Elijah calls for a showdown between God and Baal (the false god Ahab’s people are following).
- Rules for the showdown: each crew takes a bull to sacrifice on an altar, and whichever god sets fire to the altar wins. God vs Baal.
Here’s where I’m going to go ahead and read the passage from 1 Kings 18:25-39. Busy Christian mom listening right now, this may be the chance in your crazy day to hear the word of God read over you, so focus in on this. Listen through the lens of Elijah’s bold action faith in God and how God responds to this.
The Contest on Mount Carmel
25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “You go first, for there are many of you. Choose one of the bulls, and prepare it and call on the name of your god. But do not set fire to the wood.” 26 So they prepared one of the bulls and placed it on the altar. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning until noontime, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no reply of any kind. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made. 27 About noontime Elijah began mocking them. “You’ll have to shout louder,” he scoffed, “for surely he is a god! Perhaps he is daydreaming, or is relieving himself. Or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!”
28 So they shouted louder, and following their normal custom, they cut themselves with knives and swords until the blood gushed out. 29 They raved all afternoon until the time of the evening sacrifice, but still there was no sound, no reply, no response. 30 Then Elijah called to the people, “Come over here!” They all crowded around him as he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down. 31 He took twelve stones, one to represent each of the tribes of Israel, 32 and he used the stones to rebuild the altar in the name of the Lord. Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold about three gallons. 33 He piled wood on the altar, cut the bull into pieces, and laid the pieces on the wood. Then he said, “Fill four large jars with water, and pour the water over the offering and the wood.”
34 After they had done this, he said, “Do the same thing again!” And when they were finished, he said, “Now do it a third time!” So they did as he said, 35 and the water ran around the altar and even filled the trench.36 At the usual time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. 37 O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.” 38 Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench! 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The Lord—he is God! Yes, the Lord is God!”
YEEESSSS!!!! Do you believe in miracles?! Holy smokes (literally), I love this story and how Elijah active chooses to let his faith in God take the wheel, not fear.
Decision #3: Pick Your Scenario Game
Time for decision #3. You’ve decided between lies and truth. Chosen between letting fear or faith drive. Now, let’s keep the ball rolling with the 4 decisions for bold action with your faith. It’s time for the pick your scenario game. You’ve played this game a million times and may not have known it.
The scenario game is when you get all in your hypothetical brain about the worst case scenario. Your thoughts can spiral out of control, and anxiety creeps in before you realize that it’s not that fifth cup of coffee that has your heart racing. Sister, you’ve only been playing half of the game, and the worst half if that.
Here’s your decision: will you play the worst case scenario game, or the best case scenario game when it comes to bold action in faith? The choice to act is up to you. We have a saying in the Collier household. My husband, Morgan says this to the kids every morning before they go to school. It’s a catechism they’ve gotten down. Catechism is a fancy way to say “a summary of principles in the form of question/response in the Christian faith.”
Collier Catechism
Morgan says, “We can’t control the world, but we can control our response to the world. What do we choose?” The kids respond with “Joy!”, and we do our best to say it joyfully so early in the morning. Ironic, I know, but it definitely makes us put our money where our mouth is. This response of “joy” is a small word that packs a punch with anything that the world can throw at us Christians. No matter what happens, when we choose to step out in bold faith, we can choose joy with whatever comes back at us.
Earlier, you had a taste of the worst case scenario game with talking to a stranger in the store. Take a moment to fully play out the worst case scenario here. Enneagram 9s and 5s, I’m looking for you to fully participate in this mortifying-for-you scenario. You’re really good at the worst case scenario game, and the 6s are right there with you.
You’re in the store, and you initiate small talk because you’re being obedient to a prompting of the Holy Spirit. After mentioning Jesus, the conversation takes a super awkward turn, the person runs off, plugging their ears, and screaming, “LALALA!”. Listen, the odds of someone abandoning their shopping cart of stuff and screaming are super slim…
Now it’s time for the best case scenario game. You’re in the store, and you initiate small talk because you’re being obedient to a prompting of the Holy Spirit. After mentioning Jesus, the conversation naturally fizzles out as you continue to shop or check out items. Here’s what you may not see. Your five minutes of awkward feelings pointed someone to Jesus. You did your part, and you got to play a role in making disciples of all nations. Maybe that person will later go on to follow Christ. Maybe they’ll get saved right there on the spot. Either way, you acted bold in your faith.
Decision #4: How Will You Walk? Timid or Bold?
Now you may be thinking, “Well that’s all lovely, Brooke. I’ve decided to believe God’s truths, chosen to operate out of faith, not fear, and I’m going to start playing the best case scenario. Now how do I actually do that as a busy Christian mom in the 21st century.” Well, BCM listener, I’m glad you asked.
Decision #4 of the 4 decisions for bold action with your faith is this: How will you walk? With a timid attitude or a bold attitude? We touched on several verses so far, but let’s drive it home with this verse from 2 Timothy about how we’re to carry ourselves as believers:
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
2 Timothy 1:7
Timid or bold? The second you crossed the line of faith, you were able to access power, love, and self-discipline through God. The great news is that you’re not having to come up with this on your own. God is equipping you and giving you a direct spiritual line to tap into when you’re wanting to act bold in your faith.
Example
For confidentiality purposes, I’ll have to be a tad vague with my story today. This is also really first world problems, and I know much more difficult decisions are made by people all over the world when it comes to standing up for their beliefs. That aside, here’s a time I had to act on what was right, but not easy.
I was working in a public education classroom, and the district had bought a motivational curriculum of sorts. We were to show a video, lead with discussion questions, and challenge the kids with a task that matched the motivational theme for the week. We were told we had to do this…or else..Red flag, I thought that was weird, but gave them the benefit of the doubt because surely we wouldn’t put trash in our kids’ heads on purpose.
So, being the good girl/rule follower I am (shout out Enneagram 1s), I didn’t want to get in trouble, so I played the video thinking, surely this will be high quality, accurate, and actually beneficial for the kids. Boy, was I wrong. Turns out, the worldly motivations of the videos didn’t line up with my Godly motivations.
Y’all, the good stuff in life only comes from God. These “motivational messages” were filled with half truths, and some parts were just downright inaccurate. It was filled with the “do what makes you happy”, “you do you”, “do what feels right” lifestyles. The discussion questions were even worse! Definitely a jaw to the floor feeling.
As the first video played and the shock factor began to fade, I began quickly taking notes on what didn’t align with my beliefs, and ended up turning off the video all together. I didn’t even touch the discussion questions. These kids didn’t know the Bible as well as I did, so all these half truths were not going to set them up for success.
I knew that I’d want the teacher to turn off the video if my own children were in that room. No, it wasn’t me pearl clutching, it was actual wrong information. This was do what makes you happy, and don’t think about the consequences kind of stuff.
So, now let’s talk consequences. Higher ups were checking to see if the videos were being played and discussions were being had. I knew it was a matter of time before I got caught, but I couldn’t even stomach the fact that kids outside my room were watching these. I ended up talking to a higher up/adjacent human who was a believer, expressed my concerns, and she confirmed what I had been feeling. These videos in the undeveloped brains of the youth was a recipe for disaster (Christian or not).
It was one of those moments that the Holy Spirit was not going to let me slide on this. Through prayer and wise counsel, I knew that I needed to take quick action, being bold in faith. The worst that could happen was be fired. The best that cold happen was trash not being put into kids’ mind. That was a risk I was willing to take. Again, the Holy Spirit was not letting go of me on this! I stood up, spoke out, and turns out, God was closing a door for me that I hadn’t seen. This whole scenario was just preparing the way.
Lookie how that worked out. It was a series of bizarre events, and this was a moment where I was absolutely compelled to speak up. I was not okay with letting it happen without my expressing my concerns. Do I regret it? Not for one second, and I hope that you would stand up for the sake of my kids on my behalf too. So, when God says He doesn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, lean into that. Sometimes I still can’t believe rule follower Brooke, was vocal and a hard no on a directive from a superior.
Podcast Recap
Throughout this story, can you see the 4 decisions for bold action with your faith. Believing the lies versus believing the truth. Choosing to let faith drive the action. Played the best case scenario, and stepped out in bold faith. I’ll walk through the 4 decisions for bold action in your faith along with a scripture summary. If you’re taking notes, here’s a great time to make sure you’ve got it all written down. Pause as you need or hit the rewind 15 seconds button as you go, or you can slow my voice down in your settings:
- Decision #1: Believe Lies or Truth
- Decision #2: Who’s Driving? Fear or Faith?
- Decision #3: Pick Your Scenario Game
- Decision #4: How Will You Walk? Timid or Bold?
Scripture Recap
- Hebrews 4:16
- Hebrews 13:6
- Proverbs 28:1
- Ephesians 3:12
- Philemon 1:8
- 1 Kings 18:25-39
I am the daughter of the King. I am chosen, forgiven, redeemed. I am loved and I belong. I am bold, brave, and strong. I am seen. I’m accepted. I am able. I’m protected. Through Him I can do anything. Because I’m the daughter of the King.
Busy Christian Mom Credo, Brooke Collier
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