Just listened to a song titled “Brave” that said “I wanna see you be brave” and “Say what you wanna say, And let the words fall out.” While I understand the need to sometimes encourage others to not let circumstances overwhelm them. . . the song seems to promote a theme which I hear a lot—an emphasis on SELF-sufficiency (taking care of yourself), and I heard NO hint of depending on God as the source of the strength you need to be brave leaving the listener to conclude the strength to be brave comes from himself/herself.
—We humans are good at making “to DO lists” and we forget that what we need are “to BE lists” knowing that God is the one who completes that list: “For I am confident of this very thing, that HE who began a good work in you will perfect it” (Philippians 1:6)—music is a powerful teaching tool and we should be careful about the message we take in as we listen to and even repeat the lyrics.
—Psalm 96 says “ascribe TO THE LORD” glory, strength, the glory of His name, and to worship and tremble before THE LORD. Jeremiah 17 says “cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength.” Our world constantly pushes us to SELF promote and to depend on ourselves for answers, but God’s Word says just the opposite, i.e., “Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which HE will accomplish for you today” (Exodus 14:13 at the dividing of the sea), “you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is HE who is giving you power to make wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:18 before entering “promised land”), “You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of THE LORD on your behalf” (2 Chronicles 20:16 answer to Jehoshaphat’s Prayer) & “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting” (John 18:35 Jesus re his crucifixion). Maybe I’m being a little picky, but I want to be very careful about planting thoughts in my heart that I should attribute to my SELF what should be attributed to God because my flesh always wants me to “displace” God (Genesis 3:5), pride trying to sneak in, sounds like me . . . me . . . me—-or like my 2-year-old self sounded.