100 Days to Brave: Devotions for Unlocking Your Most Courageous Self

ZONDERVAN

100 Days to Brave

Copyright © 2017 by Annie F. Downs

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Contents

Introduction

BRAVE ENOUGH TO START

DAY ONE: WHAT IS BRAVE?

DAY TWO: WHY BE BRAVE?

DAY THREE: YOU ARE BRAVER THAN YOU KNOW

DAY FOUR: LOOK FOR BRAVE

DAY FIVE: JUST START

BRAVE ENOUGH TO BE YOU

DAY SIX: THE LIES YOU BELIEVE

DAY SEVEN: THE TRUTH THAT SETS YOU FREE

DAY EIGHT: YOU AREN’T A MISTAKE

DAY NINE: YOUR HEART

DAY TEN: YOUR FEET

DAY ELEVEN: YOUR MIND

DAY TWELVE: SPEAK KINDLY TO YOURSELF

DAY THIRTEEN: LIKE WHAT YOU LIKE

DAY FOURTEEN: GOD MADE YOU ON PURPOSE

BRAVE ENOUGH TO BELIEVE GOD

DAY FIFTEEN: ASK THE HARD QUESTIONS

DAY SIXTEEN: BELIEVE YOU ARE NEVER ALONE

DAY SEVENTEEN: DIG INTO THE WORD FOR YOURSELF

DAY EIGHTEEN: PRAY

DAY NINETEEN: HAVE FAITH

DAY TWENTY: GOD IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS

DAY TWENTY-ONE: YOU CAN HEAR GOD

DAY TWENTY-TWO: YOU ARE WHO GOD SAYS YOU ARE

DAY TWENTY-THREE: BELIEVE GOD CARES ABOUT YOUR DREAMS

BRAVE ENOUGH TO DREAM

DAY TWENTY-FOUR: DREAM BIG

DAY TWENTY-FIVE: DREAM IN PIECES

DAY TWENTY-SIX: WHAT’S AN OPEN DOOR?

DAY TWENTY-SEVEN: WHAT’S A CLOSED DOOR?

DAY TWENTY-EIGHT: MOURN DREAMS THAT HAVE DIED

DAY TWENTY-NINE: CHASE THE DREAMS THAT ARE ALIVE

DAY THIRTY: TELL SOMEONE

DAY THIRTY-ONE: HOW DO YOU FIND THE PEOPLE TO TELL?

DAY THIRTY-TWO: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DREAMS AND CALLING

BRAVE ENOUGH TO WORK HARD

DAY THIRTY-THREE: WHAT ARE YOU CREATED TO DO?

DAY THIRTY-FOUR: ONE CALLING

DAY THIRTY-FIVE: MULTIPLE EXPRESSIONS

DAY THIRTY-SIX: WORK IN PIECES

DAY THIRTY-SEVEN: WHERE CAN YOUR CALLING TAKE YOU?

DAY THIRTY-EIGHT: WHEN YOUR CALLING ISN’T YOUR JOB

DAY THIRTY-NINE: FIND YOUR CALLING AT YOUR JOB

DAY FORTY: WORK HARD

DAY FORTY-ONE: WHO YOU DO LIFE WITH MATTERS AS MUCH AS WHAT YOU DO

BRAVE ENOUGH TO LOVE OTHERS

DAY FORTY-TWO: BRAVE PEOPLE NEED PEOPLE

DAY FORTY-THREE: YOUR FAMILY

DAY FORTY-FOUR: YOUR FRIENDS

DAY FORTY-FIVE: DATING AND MARRIAGE

DAY FORTY-SIX: YOUR CHURCH

DAY FORTY-SEVEN: FIND A MENTOR

DAY FORTY-EIGHT: YOUR ONLINE LIFE

DAY FORTY-NINE: YOUR WORDS MATTER

DAY FIFTY: WHEN RELATIONSHIPS CHANGE

BRAVE ENOUGH TO FACE CHANGE

DAY FIFTY-ONE: CHANGE ALWAYS HAPPENS

DAY FIFTY-TWO: PREPARE FOR CHANGE

DAY FIFTY-THREE: SMALL DECISIONS MATTER

DAY FIFTY-FOUR: SAY YES

DAY FIFTY-FIVE: SAY NO

DAY FIFTY-SIX: IN THE WAITING SEASON

DAY FIFTY-SEVEN: WHEN YOU HOLD ON

DAY FIFTY-EIGHT: WHEN YOU LET GO

DAY FIFTY-NINE: WHEN CHANGE HURTS

BRAVE ENOUGH TO PERSEVERE

DAY SIXTY: LIFE IS HARD

DAY SIXTY-ONE: FAILURE IS INEVITABLE

DAY SIXTY-TWO: DON’T BE AFRAID

DAY SIXTY-THREE: FACE YOUR PAIN

DAY SIXTY-FOUR: INVITE SOMEONE INTO YOUR PAIN

DAY SIXTY-FIVE: DIVINE DETOURS

DAY SIXTY-SIX: WHY PERSEVERANCE MATTERS

DAY SIXTY-SEVEN: DON’T GIVE UP

DAY SIXTY-EIGHT: WHEN PAIN HEALS

BRAVE ENOUGH TO PURSUE HEALING

DAY SIXTY-NINE: GOD’S PURPOSE FOR YOUR BODY

DAY SEVENTY: RHYTHMS OF DISCIPLINE

DAY SEVENTY-ONE: PLEASE PLAY

DAY SEVENTY-TWO: PLEASE EXERCISE

DAY SEVENTY-THREE: PLEASE EAT YOUR VEGGIES

DAY SEVENTY-FOUR: PLEASE REST

DAY SEVENTY-FIVE: SABBATH

DAY SEVENTY-SIX: WORDS CAN HEAL

DAY SEVENTY-SEVEN: HEALTHY PEOPLE THINK ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE

BRAVE ENOUGH TO SERVE

DAY SEVENTY-EIGHT: BE A MENTOR

DAY SEVENTY-NINE: BLAZE A TRAIL

DAY EIGHTY: EVERYTHING YOU HAVE IS GOD’S

DAY EIGHTY-ONE: BE GENEROUS WITH YOUR TIME

DAY EIGHTY-TWO: BE GENEROUS WITH YOUR WISDOM

DAY EIGHTY-THREE: BE GENEROUS WITH YOUR MONEY

DAY EIGHTY-FOUR: BE GENEROUS WITH YOUR WORDS

DAY EIGHTY-FIVE: BE GENEROUS WITH YOUR HOME

DAY EIGHTY-SIX: WHAT YOU HAVE SHOULD AFFECT WHERE YOU ARE

BRAVE ENOUGH TO BE WHERE YOU ARE

DAY EIGHTY-SEVEN: SACRED PLACES

DAY EIGHTY-EIGHT: BE PRESENT WHERE YOU ARE

DAY EIGHTY-NINE: WHERE YOU MEET WITH GOD

DAY NINETY: YOUR HOME

DAY NINETY-ONE: YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

DAY NINETY-TWO: YOUR CITY

DAY NINETY-THREE: YOUR COUNTRY

DAY NINETY-FOUR: THE WORLD

DAY NINETY-FIVE: JERUSALEM

BRAVE ENOUGH

DAY NINETY-SIX: JESUS WAS BRAVE

DAY NINETY-SEVEN: JESUS IS BRAVE

DAY NINETY-EIGHT: YOU WERE MADE TO BE BRAVE

DAY NINETY-NINE: YOU ARE BRAVE

DAY ONE HUNDRED: LET’S ALL BE BRAVE

Thank You

Introduction

Dear friend,

This says a lot to me, you being here. It says you are feeling what I sometimes feel—like there is more than this. Your this may look different from my this, but it’s true all the same.

So I’m really glad you’re here. And I hope you’ll stick around all the way to the end because there is something here for you. At the least, it’s an invitation to run after a life that might require a bit more courage but will certainly offer more joy and more than this. At the most, everything changes. And that can be pretty awesome.

I hope you have a journal, or will buy a journal, to take alongside you in this daily story you are writing about your life. These 100 days are special to me, and I hope they will be to you as well. I’ve pulled together some of my favorite thoughts on courage and bravery and mixed them with lots of new ones that God and life and people have taught me over the last few years. And I think together with whatever God is already doing in your life, this could be a really interesting journey for you.

I know I’m not really there beside you, but in my heart it feels like I am. Think of me as the friend who’s across the table from you at the local coffeehouse, just here to talk and process and think with you as you walk this road toward your most courageous self. I’m cheering for you.

Sincerely,

BRAVE ENOUGH TO START

You were always meant to be brave.

Day One

WHAT IS BRAVE?

For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

—ISAIAH 41:13 NIV

Brave. What is it? Truth is, there is no formula and there are no rules. There is the Bible, our guidebook for all things, but other than that, being brave is organic and spiritual and a unique journey for each person.

I won’t be saying, Here is exactly what courage looks like or If you want to really risk in a way that impacts the people around you, do these particular things. I don’t think that works. I don’t think you need me to tell you what to do. I think you know. (Or if you don’t, you will.) I think you just need a little pregame warm-up. A little something to oomph you along. An understanding of the map you are holding.

For the next 100 days, I want to show you that you are braver than you know, and with that knowledge in your back pocket, you can change your world.

Courage is doing things even when you’re scared. Being brave isn’t something that happens when you’re not scared anymore. Brave people don’t stop hearing the whispers of fear.

They hear the whispers but take action anyway.

Being brave is hearing that voice of fear in your head, but saying, Okay, but the truth is, God made me on purpose and for a purpose.

I can tell you that the moments of my greatest fears—those times when I was sure I was going to wimp out under the pressure of it all—have also been the open doors to the greatest changes in my life. So I step out, full of fear, but trusting that God is on the other side in new and wonderful ways. And so far? He always is.

Brave people don’t stop hearing the whispers of fear.

They hear the whispers but take action anyway.

He will be for you too.

BE BRAVE: Tell one person (a friend, a spouse, a coworker, a mentor) that you have begun this 100-day journey toward a braver life.

Day Two

WHY BE BRAVE?

We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God, who first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all his idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it. But we know it now.

—2 TIMOTHY 1:8–9 MSG

I got to travel to Honolulu, Hawaii, to speak at a conference. One afternoon I walked into the Kailua Starbucks to write for a bit and saw zero tables available. I didn’t really have a plan B for where to write, so I got in line for my drink anyway.

A table opened up between a vacationing couple and three tan and adorable surfer dudes. The surfers were talking about their marriages, so I tuned out because, ya know, they had wives already.

I began to unpack, and just because of proximity (the tables were close, y’all), I couldn’t help but check back into their conversation—and I heard them talking about absolute truth and how God is the only thing that is absolute, and suddenly I realized I was watching two of them share their stories of Jesus with the third.

My heart began to race. That conversation takes courage. Sharing your story takes guts.

I know. Maybe you think I’m being dramatic, but listen. That guy? Hearing how Jesus is the answer? His life is forever different and his future is forever altered because those two surfers were brave enough to say the things about Jesus that they know to be true.

Seeing other people be brave makes me want to be brave too. It’s a domino effect.

I felt it in me as I listened to them—the want to share my story. That’s why you’ll see rational adults going down a loopty-loop waterslide even if they don’t want to—because they want to show their kids it isn’t scary.

Seeing other people be brave makes me want to be brave too.

That’s why we have to start. That’s why we have to go first. That’s why we have to be brave—so that others will be inspired to be brave along with us.

We can be brave because we were always meant to be brave.

It is scary to be who you’re meant to be. It doesn’t feel easy because it’s not. But we were made for this. Like today’s scripture says, we have holy work. Why be brave? Because when we’re brave enough to share the God stories in our lives, it changes the people around us. It changes us to share them.

BE BRAVE: Think back on your day. Where can you see God working on your behalf? Or just showing up for you? Tell somebody.

Day Three

YOU ARE BRAVER THAN YOU KNOW

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, This is the way; walk in it.

—ISAIAH 30:21 NIV

In October 2007, I started to feel something unsettled in my spirit. That’s the best way I can describe it. After weeks of this weird feeling, I felt like I had to really pray and ask God to direct me. I sensed I was supposed to make a change, but I just didn’t know what that change was.

So I asked God. And my heart kept hearing that it was time for a move. To Nashville. And after a few months of wrestling, I did it.

I cried the entire drive. Three and a half hours. Now, I know I wasn’t leaving for a town halfway around the