Timidity doesn't honor God.
There, I said it.
I've given a lot of thought to how often followers of Christ find themselves - or more accurately, place themselves - in the role of victim.
Text messages change our moods. What someone said about us ruins our day. We pray fervently the same prayers, pleading with God to bless us in some area of our lives. Or, we allow ourselves only the most modest of dreams in a misguided attempt to be humble.
Yes, the Bible talks frequently of the blessings of humility. And Jesus Himself extols the virtue as one of the most desired traits of those seeking to live like Him. But nowhere have I seen a verse that says, "Think small, dream small and pray small. These things make God happy."
In fact, I would venture to say that the opposite is accurate: big, bold prayers and dreams honor God.
On the basest of levels, followers of Christ, those seeking to model their lives after His example, must admit that our Savior was radical.
He flipped tables. He preached and healed on "forbidden" days. He hung out with the outcasts. I mean, come on: Jesus was our first maverick.
Yet somehow, centuries later, many of us have accepted a role of inferiority. We've come to accept mediocrity and "just getting by" as the life we should lead, and happily.
I disagree.
The Bible clearly states that the riches of the wicked are stored up for the righteous. In Psalms 35:27, we're told that the Lord delights in blessing His children. And Mark 11:24 explicitly says that if the children of God pray, believing that they have received, God is faithful to do anything they ask in Jesus' name.
Where in those scriptures does it say "accept whatever the world gives you"? To the contrary, we're encouraged to command our day in Job 38:12, and we're told that have authority over all the power that the enemy possesses in Luke 10:19.
Time after time, God reiterates through scripture His desire for his children to be bold, to have divine confidence, and to walk open to and expecting abundance in every area of our lives.
So, it's far time those of us who aspire to be like Christ accept this simple fact: to be radical is to be like Christ.
Yes, be humble. Seek God's will for your life, and walk that path with love and temperance. But don't make yourself, your dreams or your abilities smaller than they are to make others comfortable; out of fear; or because you think that pleases God.
God knew what you'd be capable of when He made you. He knows your personality and the dreams He's placed in you. He formed you with the express intent of fulfilling the purpose and dreams He placed in you.
So do it. Do you.
Be confident in your uniqueness. Embrace the big dreams God's given you, and the great ministry He's placed in you.
Accept that you're different (Heck, we all are. We were made that way: to stand out, to be a remnant). Love you for you, and then live your God-given life out loud.
It's what God wants. It's honoring God by being and doing and dreaming all that He wants you to, the way He wants you to.
Last year for the Lenten season, I read "Draw The Circle," a prayer challenge authored by Pastor Mark Batterson. I still remember the entry for day 31, "What Do You Want Me to Do For You?," which talked all about praying and believing God for big, explicit prayers as an act of honoring how great and powerful He truly is.
That very day I decided I would seek God and write down (just like they tell us in Habakkuk) all of the visions He'd given me. And man, they were bigger than anything I'd allow myself to think of.
Almost a year later, I remain determined and passionate about living each day as radically as my Savior did: confident in who I am and what I'm gifted and called to do. It has given me a peace beyond my understanding and freedom previously unattainable.
The season of mundane Christian life is over. Be bold and be radical in whatever God's called you to do. Evangelize with passion. Work with divine confidence. And live with Christ-like love and humility. Expect good things in your life daily, and decide right now that yesterday was the last day you'd take whatever this life gives to you.
You are an heir to the King. Walk in that power. It pleases God for you to do so.