Brave, The: Conquering the Fears That Hold You Back

112 Pages·2012·3.77 MB·English

by  Michael DiMarco

© 2012 by Hungry Planet
Published by Revell
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.revellbooks.com
Ebook edition created 2012
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ISBN 978-1-4412-3807-8
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Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
A Brave Introduction
1. The Brave Have Faith
2. The Brave Fear the Right Thing
3. The Brave Know the Truth
4. The Brave Know Pain
5. The Brave Conquer Their Fear
Conclusion
Notes
About the Authors
Back Ads
Back Cover

What you’ve just read were our true feelings when we were unable to be
brave in our lives. For both of us, life was out of control, and “brave”
would not have been a description of us. We were letting the world win,
seeing no hope and finding no strength for the job of life. It wasn’t until we
learned some things about this life and the next that we finally were able to
see things as they really are and to gain the bravery we needed to not only
deal with our crazy fears but to continually conquer them.
The natural tendency of all of us humans is to fear. It’s about self-
preservation. Self-preservation is the most important thing in life, because
without it, well, there is no life. So when things get rough, dangerous, or
uncertain, humans fear the worst.
Can you relate? Do you ever doubt the best and fear the worst? Are you
stressed? Do you worry? When you want to just give up, stop the fight, and
hide in your room, you have lost your bravery. When pain and suffering
are knocking on your door and threatening to whup you upside the head
and you are going crazy with just the thought of it all, you need to be
brave.
Everyone has times in their lives when God just doesn’t come through
the way we expected, when heaven even sounds empty, if not angry.
That’s really what’s at the root of all your fear, doubt, worry, and stress: this
sense that your world is a mess and no one cares—or at the very least, no
one who can do anything about it.
Fear tells you that God has checked out, that his anger is stronger than
his love, and that you are doing this thing called life all alone. Fear isn’t
just about the inability to charge into battle, but it’s about your inability to
cope with everyday life and your desire to just give up. And that’s where
being brave comes in.
The Brave aren’t genetically different from the rest of us; they just have
learned to see things differently. They know the answer to the question
“Why?” and because of that they have the courage to face their fears and
their doubts. The Brave have faith—not in themselves but in their God.
When everything around them says he’s checked out and not to be trusted,
their faith kicks in and takes over. That’s because they fear God more than
they fear anything else in this world. That doesn’t mean they are scared of
him, but they know his power, his ability, and his love, and they know that
they're bigger than even the biggest pain or trouble they could ever face.
With just a simple acceptance of what God wants to give you, you too
can have the bravery you’ve been missing. When you learn the truth about
your life from the perspective of the divine, things change in a major way.
For us they sure did.