“Freedom lies in being bold.” ~ Robert Frost
Boldness is progressive and always builds on previous experiences of being bold. Tough and challenging times require leaders to take a stand and be bold. Bold leaders don’t avoid conflicts or difficult circumstances. They never run from them, they face them head on. Their bold confidence comes from their successes in previous bold encounters. There is no character in the Bible any bolder than David when he faced Goliath.
“Don’t worry about this Philistine,” David told Saul. “I’ll go fight him!” “Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy…But David persisted. “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!”…Goliath walked out toward David… sneering in contempt…David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. (from 1 Samuel 17:32-45 NLT)
By the time David had to face Goliath, he had a pretty solid resume of boldness. God had always been faithful in both protecting David and giving him the strength he needed for each encounter. David’s boldness to face a giant was built on other bold experiences in his life.
What giants are you facing in your life and leadership today? Remember God’s faithfulness in the past in helping you overcome difficulties. God was there for you then and He’ll be there for you now. Draw strength from your past experiences and be bold today. Those you lead need you to stand strong.
Being bold can apply to relationships, circumstances, habits, dreams, business deals, generosity and just about any other factor that can present a challenge or difficulty for us to overcome.
Strong leaders are bold leaders who run toward the challenges they need to conquer. They’ve done it before and discovered God’s faithfulness and found rest in His sovereignty. Being bold is a matter of having faith in God’s strength and not our own.
Be a bold leader today by first identifying the challenge you need to conquer and then move toward it with confidence in God’s strength. There will always be danger and risk. No matter what difficulty you face today, be confident, be wise, be prepared, be brave and be bold!