The World Needs the Heartbreak You Risk
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Yes, the Lord is for me; he will help me. – Psalm 118:7 (NLT)
A brave faith sometimes brings people to tears.
I met up with a graduated teen of mine and he asked what was new in my life. I shared something that had actually been encouraging lately, something good that had happened. I told him, “Our son’s probation officer was over last week and we had a good meeting together.”
This God-loving, someone-I’m-so-proud-of man I was having coffee with asked questions about this visit with the probation officer. I saw the tears form in his eyes. I know I am one of those important adults in his life who has been intentional with him for over 40 years. (A youth pastor never stops discipling.) It broke his heart that I was so accustomed to the prison cycle.
As for me, this is just something that is a part of my life. This is part of my brave faith. This meeting with the probation officer was an answer to prayer.
I choose a life of brave faith.
I define bravery as your decisions to actually trust God. That is full of vulnerability because with God there is not the guarantee of the controlled outcome you want.
Vulnerability is the birthplace of bravery. Vulnerability is having the guts to show up when there is no guaranteed outcome. Uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure is the definition of vulnerability. Vulnerability has beauty in it too. The type of beauty that has moments of awe, that imprints on your heart, and challenges you.
With vulnerability comes the possibility that you will have your heart smashed. This is a 100 percent possibility. God is always faithful. That is also 100 percent. God always redeems your pain.
I see this hashtag a lot, #lovewins. I hear messages preached on how to be a better Christian is to love more or love better. But to really live like this, you have to realize your heart is going to break. People are going to be disappointed. God is going to disappoint. Really it is your expectation of God that disappoints. (That’s a whole other lesson of bravery, we aren’t guaranteed the outcome.) You are going to have a smashed heart and want to quit.
Instead, you decide to hide in bed for a day…or three (me, too!). You choose to love again. My life is a story of getting my heart smashed and the many times I have chosen to get up. This is brave faith.
I have learned from years of God’s faithfulness that I do not need to fear feeling vulnerable but that I can brave up and walk into life because God always carries me through. God’s promises are rich with this.
Beauty comes when your decisions of bravery define you.
The world needs the heartbreak you risk.
Inspiration is a beginning. But inspiration is still safe. Application is the change, and that is not safe. Application is how brave stories are made.
Meanwhile may you live slightly braver as I am also.
Questions for Reflection:
1. How did you react when something disappointed you to the point where you felt brokenhearted?
2. What did you learn from that experience?
3. What role did God play in this disappointment?
