When brave runs out...

My brave is used up. 

I am deducting that when Joshua took over from Moses he felt like his brave had also run out. Why else would God tell him a number of times not to be afriad. To be courageous, even to be very courageous? 

For many years while we lived out in the bush we had two family sayings. One was a bit tongue in the cheek - "Hope for the best, but expect the worst" and "We will be fine." Without a doubt i still use the first one regularly, but somehow i just cannot get myself to say the latter.

We have used it in so many different settings, crisis and disasters that is comes quite naturally. A way in which God encouraged us, because in the end through all those times we were actually fine. But not now.

We are not fine when more muscles fail us. We are not fine when hearts hurt so bad that life seems impossible to maneuver. I cannot go to my go-to. I stop short. I need a replacement for it. We need Hope more than anything right now. 

And then i think of all those extreme times when i said it....Alfred hurt his back when we moved to Mozambique and was on bedrest for a month. A month of trying to figure out a foreign country while juggling three little boys, school and caring....We will be fine. And we were.

Or the time a hurricane ripped through our village on the day Alfred taught on Jesus' death and resurrection....We will be fine. - and the storm stopped at 2 when the teaching was supposed to start. 

Or the worst case of malaria....he will be fine and thank God, he was. Or building a house with no funding..We will be fine. And there the house stands. Or cleaning up a badly burnt child in our village all the way thinking he needs ICU but God touched those by-the-end-of-the-day dark brown bandages and he healed with no scar. We will be fine. And we were.

"We will be fine" was not positive thinking. Try living out there for a couple of years and stay positive! It was much more than an empty comfort sentence. It had deep roots of God's faithfulness. We will be fine because God has it. He has us. He has this.

And so, i am changing my go to sentence to something much deeper where even more trust is involved by saying, "God's got this." Just like Joshua needed new brave, new courage, we need it too.

And we can be brave and courageous because God says... "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afriad; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

God's got this. And in the end we will be fine.

Bella.