Flexing My Faith Muscle

Is bravery a learned trait?  I never stopped to consider this question until recently.  I was the child who was scared of the dark, and through my teenage years would beg my younger sister to accompany me up the stairs of my family’s spooky-at-night farmhouse with far too many windows.  It should come as no surprise that I don’t consider myself brave.  Our oldest son doesn’t fit the brave demographic either.  At six-years-old he is scared to ride at more than a snail’s pace on his bike.  We’re wondering if he’ll ever graduate from training wheels!  But Kenny and I found ourselves at the amusement park yesterday, standing in line for the Mind Eraser ride. This perfect circle would take us in a series of loops and leave us hanging upside down at the top of the loop.  At just 48” tall (the minimum height to ride), Kenny was by far the shortest and youngest in line.  The woman in front of us commented on Kenny’s bravery.  This comment made me think of a recent comment a fellow mom made about my bravery.  Could it be?  Could we chickens really have some bravery in us? 

I’ve always thought of the Bible heroes I learned about in Sunday School as innately brave; Daniel and the lion’s den, David and Goliath, Easter and the King of Persia, Mary and the Christmas story.  These people must have all been born with super-human levels of bravery to serve God in a way that still has us reading about them today, right?  I’m starting to question that premise.  These people had their faults and downfalls.  They, like us, were trying to make their way through difficult circumstances presented by an imperfect world.  There is no doubt they exhibited bravery, but I no longer think of them as being born with freakishly high levels of bravery.  Instead, I’m starting to see them as filled-to-the-brim with faith.  Their faith in God fueled their ability to be brave.  Their faith in God provided them the means to change the world. 

Could faith and therefore bravery be a muscle that can be strengthened upon exercise?  Having faith in God is the first step, which many of us have.  But having faith that could kill a giant or mother the Son of God doesn’t just happen.  It comes by exercising faith daily; by stretching to practice faith in a way that is new and makes us uncomfortable.  It’s not easy or comfortable, which is why the world isn’t filled with David’s and Mary’s.  But the thought that I could be a David or Mary is both encouraging and challenging.  God has a history of using the most ordinary of people to do extraordinary things.  That certainly makes me highly qualified, along with a few of youJ.  I better brush up on my slingshot skills!

Reading Signs

Did you know that the average 4-yr-old asks 437 questions per day?  I recently saw this posted on Facebook, and could only laugh.  The joke seems to be on me because I have TWO 4-yr-olds.  And the questions they ask are endless.  Jacob is by far the most curious.  He shoots questions at me like a semi-automatic weapon.  Signs seem to be his biggest area of interest.  Have you ever stopped to think about how many signs we encounter in a day?  I can tell you that it numbers in the hundreds!

Warning signs are of particular interest to Jacob’s wondering mind.  We recently got home from running errands and he dragged me out of the car with a sense of urgency equivalent to a house fire.  He had spotted the Neighborhood Watch sign mounted on the street light in our front yard and needed me to read it to him.  This evoked a stream of questions about bad guys and police.  Oh my….  And don’t even get me started about warning labels on boxes.  The kid can spot the tiniest “stop” symbol and needs a full explanation. 

I wish I could say he takes after his father, but Jacob looks and acts like me.  And I love a good set of rules.  I suspect Jacob is trying to establish his own set of rules to live by and is using the signs to understand how our society works.  Yep—he’s a smart one (did I say he takes after me:-)!  The amazing thing is that God compiled all the signs we need for life into a little book called the Bible.  It provides us with a rich understanding of God’s love for us and how we need to live in order to show that love to others.  And all we need to do is read it!  

One of the biggest “road signs” in the Bible is Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount where he provided people with simple understanding of how to live a life pleasing to God.  We can find this sermon recorded in Matthew chapters 5-7.  It covers everything from giving to the needy to worry and even how to treat our enemies.  I imagine that if God turned this section of scripture into a sign, it would be like one of the signs we find in Las Vegas or Times Square; huge, lit up, turning and impossible to turn away from.  

Most of us have long ago said goodbye to the age of four, and while we don’t ask 437 questions a day anymore, we do still question every now and then.  Next time a question pops into your mind, do what a 4-year-old would do and take it to your parent…..your heavenly parent.  It brings Him great joy, and will bring you great understanding and peace.  Now if I could just get Jacob to redirect his questions to God….

Jacob on a recent hike near Moab, UT.  You don't even want to know the number of questions these railroad tracks evoked!