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

by Annie F. Downs

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

One of the truest ways to glorify God with your feet is to lead.

What you hear and what you see will affect your brain (and heart) greatly.

Speaking kindly to yourself will make you brave.

Giving yourself permission to do the thing you want to do, to like whatever you want to like.

Sometimes we avoid asking God things because we fear what the answer will be.

If you set out to read your Bible as if it is something you have to do, you will miss out on the supernatural power it can have in your life.

God’s dream for me was so much greater than the one I’d been planning all along.

He knows we need dreams in pieces because we would be too scared of the whole puzzle.

What’s one area of your life where you know you are being brave right now?

“The dreams you thought would come true in a certain time frame never did. You saw a life for yourself that you will never have. You can mourn that loss.”

When it comes to your dreams, you need to guard your heart.

You need to allow love into your heart, but always remember to guard and protect it.

Wise people live wise lives. Find them. Watch for them. And then keep them around your life.

Dreams are different from your calling.

Rebekah Lyons says your calling is where your burdens and your talents collide.

Your calling, the thing that God has placed in you for the good of the planet and the good of your heart, isn’t going anywhere.

Jobs will come and go. Your calling won’t.

Jesus can take something broken and make it right.

Don’t let fear of failure keep you from what God wants you to do.

I believe that we all have one calling, but it can be expressed in lots of ways.

Do what’s right in front of you.

What’s cool about your calling is that there are no dead ends.

Even if you weren’t brave enough to pursue your last opportunity, you can be brave this time.

You’ve got to be brave enough to be faithful, even when you don’t want to be. You’ve got to be brave to work hard now for a payoff that won’t come until later. But it is so worth it!

You can be fully you wherever you are. And it’s your choice.

Whatever you’re doing and whatever you’re asked to do, work hard.

We have to be brave enough to balance work and life because we need relationships.

Friendship takes work. Friendship takes courage.

You can be brave enough to love your family well even if your family isn’t always healthy.

Pray for the courage to stick with your family and love them as they are, the way God has loved you.

You need to be brave and let people get close enough to speak into your life.

I’ve never regretted being brave enough to put myself out there and try.

Single friends, ask someone to coffee. Like, someone who could be someone. Be brave. Go for it! It’s just coffee.

I once asked my friend Pastor Scott Sauls what happens when you stay in a church even when you are hurt or it seems hard. He said, “That’s when you grow up.”

You know why church is hard? Because of humans. So. Many. Humans.

It takes bravery to put yourself out there and ask someone to give you some of his or her wisdom.

We are to be a light wherever we go, even online.

If there are seeds of courage living in all of us, waiting to bloom, words are the sun and the water that cheer on those seeds to their fullness.

If your relationship is changing in a way that is heartbreaking, don’t try to distract the pain away. Be brave enough to let Jesus into the ripped places.

Brave people are willing to let go of everything as they hold tight to God, even when things start to change.

We can be brave because Jesus is constant, even when our circumstances are not.

Just as the seasons change on earth, they are going to change in my life.

When you’re going through change, small decisions matter.

Saying little noes that give you some space in your life allows other things to grow.

A little yes can be a step in the right direction, even if it isn’t a leap.

If you are living in obedience to Him, and He brings opportunities into your life, you can trust that He will take care of you when you say yes.

Say yes to the situations that stretch you and scare you and ask you to be a better you than you think you can be.

Say yes to Jesus in every way—every chance you get.

A lot of courageous noes make for some beautifully brave yeses.