You Can't Be Brave Until You're Scared

A Call for Courageous Women to Face Fear, Fight Anxiety, and Awaken Holy Awe

Jess Connolly

• Publisher: Baker Books
• Year: 2026
• eBook ISBN:
  9781493456567
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Self Improvement

You don't have to be fearless to be brave

Fear is no longer a quiet undercurrent in women's lives--it's a crisis. Nearly one in three women in the United States will experience an anxiety disorder in her lifetime, with numbers rising fastest among younger women. Culturally, the message makes it worse: if you're not scared, you're not paying attention. But many of us have absorbed an equally crushing message from the church: that fear itself is a failure of faith. Both are lies. And Scripture tells a different story.

God doesn't call us to follow Him fear-free. He calls us to be strong and courageous because He knows we're scared--not in spite of it.

In You Can't Be Brave Until You're Scared, Jess Connolly invites you into an honest reckoning with fear and a better understanding of how it works in your mind, body, and soul. Whether you're afraid of God's expectations, the world's uncertainties, other people's opinions, or your own weaknesses, this book will help you:
● Trace your fear to its source--understanding how anxiety affects your mind, body, and soul so you can stop fighting symptoms and start addressing what's underneath
● Discover why the biblical fear of the Lord is not a threat but a rescue--a holy awe that reorients the anxious heart toward the One who is actually in charge
● Transform fear into steady, grounded reverence--the kind that doesn't eliminate your feelings but changes what they lead you toward
● Stop obeying fear and start living as the brave woman God already sees--not by becoming fearless, but by learning what to do with the fear you have

At the heart of this book is a truth that most Christians have never been taught: when you learn to fear the Lord rightly, every other fear begins to lose its grip.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction: We Are Scared
• 1. Scared of the Light
• 2. Scared of the Dark
• 3. Scared of Them
• 4. Scared of Myself
• 5. Scared of Everything
• 6. Courageous Reverence
• 7. Courageous Fight
• 8. Courageous Leadership
• 9. Courageously Yourself
• 10. Courageously at Ease
• 11. Ambassadors of Courage
• Conclusion: You’re Actually So Brave
• About the Author
• Back Cover