Ordinary Time 
Pause
There are so many ways to be brave in this world. Sometimes bravery involves laying down your life for something bigger than yourself, or for someone else. Sometimes it involves giving up everything you have ever known, or everyone you have ever loved, for the sake of something greater.
But sometimes it doesn’t.
Sometimes it is nothing more than gritting your teeth through pain, and the work of every day, the slow walk toward a better life.
Veronica Roth in Allegiant (2013)
Listen
After these events, the Lord’s word came to Abram in a vision, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your protector. Your reward will be very great.”
Genesis 15:1
Think
Over and over again, all throughout the Bible, we find this phrase, “Do not be afraid.” In today’s text, it’s Abram who is afraid. But it could have just as easily been someone else, because fear is a universal experience.
We all know what it is like to be scared. But God doesn’t want us to live in fear.
For this reason we must trust that God will keep God’s promise, and that God will be our shield, just as God was a shield for Abram. In the midst of a fight, one’s shield offers protection; it provides one with a sense of security, and as a result, inspires courage. God wants to do those things for us as well.
When we know God is our protector, ever with us, shielding us, we are less likely to give into fear. Instead, we are freed to live and love fully. Living this way, without fear, is in and of itself a priceless reward. So like Abram, shield yourself with God, and fear no more.
Chris Robertson
Pray
It’s so easy to give into fear, O God. I’m daily afraid of rejection, failure, and loss. I have so little control, which is why I’m turning to you. Help me to surrender my fear, and in exchange, I ask that you fill me with your love, that I might live more courageously.
Go
In Scripture we are told that God is at work in the world.
And that God’s work is also our work.
May we then go into the world and be brave,
ever ready to give of ourselves,
ever trusting in the goodness of God.
