TUESDAY

Joshua 1:9

• In what areas does God want you to be bold?

Jana, a young, twenty-something hopeful intern at Gucci headquarters, is eager to learn the tricks of the trade or anything that will help propel her to her ultimate goal: becoming a fashion designer. She spends hours the night before laboring over her outfit for her first day. It has to be perfect. Gucci-worthy.

She walks in with as much faux-confidence as she can gather, telling herself internally to release her pinched-up shoulders and tread with a calm purpose. Finding her desk, she meets her boss: Mildred. Mildred looks like she models in her free time. Her hair is perfectly straightened, not a single hair out of place. Her outfit is effortlessly cool. The colors she’s sporting are daring and intentional. She looks at her new intern. Gives her an up-and-down.

“I like the ‘fit,” she offers. Then, with the faintest silhouette of a smile: “Bold.” She wiggles her eyebrows up and down, the beginnings of a smile evolving into a smirk. Jana has never felt more alive.

Jana told me this story ten years after the fact. “I still remember how validating it was. I remember how good it felt to be ‘bold.’”

Boldness is good. God calls us to be bold in our faith. So be strong and courageous today. Be bold.