He Will Make You Brave

Have you ever had one of those moments where you were left feeling that God may have used you for his Kingdom purpose? You’re not sure of all the how’s and why’s, but you just sensed that God was at work.

I had one of those moments recently, and it all started when the air conditioner in my car began to make a horrible racket. Now my car is only two years old, and I was horrified to think that it could be going out already. In typical fashion, I decided to ignore it for a few days in hopes it would heal itself, but unfortunately, the noise persisted which meant I was going to have to take it to the shop.

Of course, the morning I was scheduled to drop it off the air conditioner purred like a kitten and continued to do so the entire time they had it at the dealership. It seemed there was nothing to fix, so they simply told me to bring it back if it made the noise again.

I was relieved. I thought my problems were solved, which they were until I tried to close the garage door that evening.  I reached for the garage door opener, and it wasn’t there.

Now my opener spends most of its time in one of the cup holders, and I was positive that it had been there when I dropped the car off that morning. Kenny and I tore the car apart looking for it, but it was nowhere to be found. Our only conclusion was that someone at the dealership must have taken it, which did not give us a warm, fuzzy feeling.

I called the next morning and asked for a manager to return my call. However, the morning passed and no call. I met a friend for lunch, and when I shared my tale with her, she told me that I needed to go back to the dealership. In fact, she wanted me to end our lunch early and go right then, but I assured her I would just stop by on my way home from work.

I then had the whole afternoon to think about it.

You see, I don’t like confrontation. I know some people thrive on it, but it brings me no joy. I knew my friend was right, but walking in and accusing them to their face of stealing was starting to make me nervous. I kept playing it my head and it always came down to this:

“Someone took my garage door opener.”

“No, we didn’t.”

Then what would I say?  

As I walked to my car that afternoon, I started praying. I asked God to give me favor with these people, and then I asked him to make me brave.

When I pulled up to the Service Department, I spied one of the men I had spoken to the day before sitting outside. I walked up to him and calmly explained the situation. He remembered me and told me that he, in fact, had been in my car and had not seen my opener. We then went inside and spoke to his associate, and his story was the same: “Yes, I was in your car, but there was no garage door opener.”

This was playing out exactly as I had feared, but behind the scenes, God was orchestrating the moves. As I was beginning to lose hope, the first man turned to the second and asked, “Who was the mechanic that looked at her car?” A name was given, and he told me that he would be right back.

As I stood waiting, calmness washed over me. I knew I had done everything I could, and it was now in God’s hands. In a few minutes, he returned and handed me my garage door opener.  He explained that my opener was identical to the one owned by the mechanic. When he saw mine sitting in the cup holder, he thought his had fallen out of his pocket and he took it.

An odd story, to say the least, but I thanked him profusely for getting it back for me.

Relief flooded my soul as I walked back to my car, and I kid you not, when I started it up the song, You Make Me Brave, was playing on the radio. Laughter erupted from me, and I drove away thanking God for making me brave.

Now I know that in the scheme of things a missing garage door opener isn’t that serious a problem. We could have bought another opener and reset it so no one could break into our house. Yet I can’t shake this thought: Did God create the temporary issue with my air conditioner to stop a certain mechanic from going down a path he shouldn’t?

Most likely I will never find out the answer to that question in this lifetime, and that is all right because God’s ways are higher than mine (Isaiah 55:9). However, what I take from this experience is sometimes you just need to be brave, which makes me think of the story of Deborah, Barak and Jael.

Their story is found in the book of Judges. During this time, Israel had a recurring problem of unfaithfulness. Instead of worshiping God alone, they chased after the little gods of the land. Now our God is longsuffering, but he will only tolerate idolatry for so long. Thus, he would allow their enemies to take them captive where they would stay until they finally came to their senses and turned to him for rescue. God would then raise up a judge to deliver his people.

At this time, God had called Deborah, a prophet, to lead Israel. Scripture tells us that she sent for Barak and said to him:

“The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount Tabor.  I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.’” (Judges 4:6-7)

When God tells you he is giving you your enemy, there is no reason to doubt the outcome. Yet Barak wasn’t so sure. Instead rallying the troops, he said to Deborah, “I will go if you go with me. But if you do not go with me, I will not go.” (Judges 4:8)

The thought of nine-hundred chariots fitted with iron must have scared Barak (Judges 4:3). Deborah, however, did not doubt God for a moment: “For sure I will go with you. But the honor will not be yours as you go on your way. For the Lord will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman.” (Judges 4:9)

God did exactly what he said he would do, and the battle belonged to the Israelites. He routed their enemy, and all were put to the sword; all that is except for their commander Sisera. He fled the battlefield by foot to the tent of Heber the Kenite, the husband of our hero, Jael.

Being of the Kenite tribe meant that Heber was a descendant of Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro (Exodus 3:1); thus, they were normally allies of Israel. However, for some reason, Heber decided to remain neutral in this war. Perhaps he believed Jabin’s army to have the advantage over Israel, and he wanted to be on the winning side. Whatever his reasons were, when Sisera came to Heber’s tent, he thought he had found a safe place to hid.

Jael went out to meet him and said, “Come, my lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid.” (Judges 4:18) She then proceeded to cover him with a blanket. She gave a little warm milk to drink and assured him that she wouldn’t tell a soul he was there. Sisera was soon sleeping soundly.

I’m sure you have heard the expression “women’s work”.  These were a nomadic people, so women’s work included putting up and taking down tents every time they moved. These were large tents, and the poles were secured with cords that were staked in the ground. The stakes were made of very hard wood, and I read they were about two feet long. Each stake had to be hammered into the very rocky, dry ground, and it was a woman’s job to do this.

We aren’t told why Jael didn’t go along with her husband’s politics, but when Sisera was sleeping, she picked up her trusty hammer and drove a tent peg through his temple into the ground (Judges 4:21). When Barack finally arrived on the scene, she showed him the body of his enemy.

God gave the victory that day to Jael. Instead of being afraid like Barak, she put her trust in the one true God, and it was her name that received the praise: “Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women.” (Judges 5:24)

Scripture tells us of many others who chose to be brave and believe God’s promises. Rahab, for example, willingly risked her life to hide the spies that Joshua sent because she recognized that their God was the one true God (Joshua 2:11). I think about Esther who put her fear aside and went to the king to save her people (Esther 4:16). Then there was Peter and the other apostles who were flogged for continuing to teach about Jesus. Yet we are told they left the Sanhedrin, “rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.” (Acts 5:41)

Sometimes God will ask you to do things that are scary, but if he has called you to it, he will equip you for it. Little did Jael know that all those years of driving stakes would prepare her for battle against Israel’s enemy. Likewise, there are ordinary things that you and I are doing now which God is using to prepare us for our next battle.

Friends, God will make you brave. Therefore, as the song says, let him draw you out beyond the shore into his grace.

Peace, love and joy in Christ!  Lisa

Discussion Questions

Has there been a time when you feel that God used you for a higher purpose?

God asked Barak to do something scary (900 chariots was nothing to sneeze at). If you were Barak, how would you have responded.

How does the prophecy of Deborah and its fulfillment reflect on the nature of God’s plans?