Holy boldness is massively important. It is also a combination of several virtues. Holy boldness gave the Apostles the courage to go out and preach, even when they knew they could very well be killed for it. Two miracles come to mind immediately to illustrate this. First is when Peter and John walk into the Temple in Acts 3:1-10. The beggar asks for alms and is expecting some after Peter’s response. But instead of giving the beggar money, Peter says, “I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise and walk.” The beggar was made whole and was leaping around, praising God. The second is found in 2 Kings 2:13-14. After Elijah is taken up to heaven, Elisha is walking back to the group of fifty and when he comes to the Jordan, he strikes the water like Elijah did earlier. When Elisha strikes the water, the water parts, and he walks across dry land. There are two reasons that I chose these two stories. I’ll talk a little about the second reason at the end of this post, but the first is that both Elisha and Peter exhibited holy boldness when they chose to step out and do something that most people would probably think to be foolish. This brings us to the composition of holy boldness.

There are several aspects to holy boldness, but I want to highlight three in particular. Humility, confidence, and trust in the Lord. The line of thought here is pretty straightforward. It goes something like this, “I see an issue, but it’s not in my power to do anything (humility). I know that God is great, can do anything, and can solve any problem (confidence). I ask the Lord for help, take a leap of faith, and trust that He will have my back (trust in the Lord).” I often get hung up between “steps” 1 and 2. It’s easy to see an issue, but it’s not always easy to remember that God is greater, especially when we are the ones facing a problem. Step 3 is often the hardest because we will have to make an act of faith and risk looking foolish to others. Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t like making a fool of myself in front of others. This loops us back to humility. Remember that it’s not about us or how we look, but rather it’s about the glory of God. Recognizing that is step one to acquiring the courage to overcome your fear. Step two is choosing to glorify God. God is good and He never forces anything on us, but He invites us to step out of our comfort zones, and He does this A LOT.

Swallowing our pride and saying yes to something we don’t want to do varies in difficulty depending on what you’re being asked to do. It is oftentimes quite difficult to remember God’s greatness and power. That is the second reason(s) that I chose those two stories. It was God who chose them by highlighting them to me, but hey, it was an act of faith to use them in this article. I used these two stories to demonstrate that God is the same as He always is. He is good. He is powerful. And He wants to work through us. I challenge everyone who is reading this to take a leap of faith this next week. When the Lord prompts you to do something, remember your weakness, remember His strength and goodness, and take the leap, confident in the God who is beside, behind, in front, and all through you.