becoming a woman of bold faith
“You will be a woman of great faith, who boldly gives it to those around you.”
These words were directed to me in front a large group at a young adult retreat a few years ago.
Thankfully, my small group leader (and now one of my best friends) was quick to record them, allowing me to replay the moment for myself in the days and months that would follow - often on repeat.
Although the sentiment still strikes me and strongly resurfaces in my thoughts during times I need it most, I don’t always feel as though I live up to that statement.
Sure, I often publicly express my spiritual moments through God’s gift of words, but I don’t always see myself as that bold woman of faith.
Which is exactly why I think that young adult pastor spoke it over me.
God’s truths for our lives often sound to us like the biggest lies.
We question them and diffuse them, refusing to see what glimmers through the clouds. We become used to the mask, so we stifle the light.
As someone who spent years battling depression, anxiety, and disordered eating, I am mighty familiar with the shadows & valleys — and all the other metaphors we use to make the hard times sound nice, which when faced with them, just aren’t.
Yet, a ‘woman of bold faith’ isn’t something that just happens without the ‘becoming’. And it isn’t always the glamorous title we might hope for it to be.
Unfortunately, it often takes the experience of a battering to produce the trust that God weathers all storms.
The beauty of becoming this woman of bold faith is that you can then help others through the battering.
It’s what Jesus did and why he roamed this Earth.
He helped others through the battering.
He demonstrated the process of becoming.
He was the light of God in a world that didn’t even want Him.
(I warned you it wasn’t glamorous.)
In our culture, opportunities for glamour beckon every which way you look. They make us quick to covet, and quicker to forget the throne we’re already an heiress to.
I love that God sent Jesus, in human form, to timelessly illustrate that (even today) people are our greatest teachers. It’s easy to look for answers everywhere and in everything. But sometimes the most divine thing we’ll do in a day is answer the phone and be there for someone. Or to pick up the phone and allow someone to be there for us.
We can experience the call of God most in the process of connection. It doesn’t happen in an instant and there aren’t shortcuts - as much as our digital world beckons for us to believe is the case.
Connection can even be the very thing that scares us the most. Because what if we’re seen?
Isn’t that exactly how Adam & Eve felt in the Garden of Eden, the moment they’d sinned and been separated from God?
They were seen. They were known. And despite their sin that disconnected them, they were loved.
I watched a movie recently that said something along the lines of: “We like because... but we love in spite of…”
And I think it’s true.
We like a lot of people. A lot of people like us. Yet, God loves us in spite of our flaws, our imperfections, and the days when the storm rages and we can’t imagine how he could be there in the midst of it with us.
But as Levi Lusko says, “never doubt in the shade what Jesus promised in the sunshine.”
Becoming a woman of bold faith is not about a perfectly checked church attendance, or a small group with the best snacks on the block; but a real, bold, heart-wrenching, Jesus-glorifying, dig-your-heels in the dirt and fight for God’s truths in the midst of the mess, kind of belief.
Both for ourselves and for our mothers, daughters, sisters, friends, and even for strangers on the internet.
Evangelism doesn’t come naturally for all of us, yet never have we had a greater reach at our fingertips and more of a need to proclaim the power of the Gospel.
If you want to look for injustices in your life, you will find them. You will be able to justify just about anything you want to. And you may even get a whole lot of people to agree with you. It’s easy. It’s a comfortable direction to go in.
But ironically, God often meets us most where we thought we never wanted to go.
Life is a series of choices - not the big kind that lead you down a daunting path of A or B, but the little ones that add up and follow you on your road to becoming.
The good news is, you’re always only one choice away from a bolder faith.
And that too will follow you until the echo you hear is:
“You are a woman of great faith who boldly gives it to those around you.”
Kaitlyn H. Parker
Kaitlyn is a blogger and the owner of kvh. creative - a copywriting, content marketing & brand strategy company. She’s also a newlywed and fur mama to a mini goldendoodle pup. When she’s not behind the screen, she enjoys nights spent with family & friends near the water with a good meal. Faith, mental health, and entrepreneurship are three of her favorite topics to chat about. Connect with Kaitlyn on her blog, website, &/or Instagram.
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