10 Courageous Women in the Bible Who Inspire Us to Be Brave
Get inspired by the stories of 10 courageous women in the Bible and discover how their courage can help us be brave today.
No one tells you how much courage you’re going to need as a woman of God.
Everyone talks about love and patience.
But no one talks about how much bravery it takes to be a women of faith who loves God, honors her husband and takes care of children.
I am not brave. You won’t find me riding a zipline, squeezing into cave openings, or diving off the high-dive.
But when it comes to being a mom, I don’t have a choice.
Well, I do. But shutting myself and my family indoors 365 days a year is not a viable option for life.
In His infinite wisdom, God knew that we would need bravery and courage to face the struggles of life.
What Does the Bible Say About Courageous Women?
When we think about courage in the Bible, our minds often turn to the stories of men like Joshua, David, and Paul.
But the Bible is also full of amazing women who did great things for God.
These courageous women of the Bible inspire modern women to go against the grain and do what’s right even when it’s not popular.
We tend to think of courage as not being afraid. A courageous person should be bold, and ready to face any situation without fear.
But the true definition of courage is “the ability to do something that frightens one.”
In other words, courage means doing it scared.
Courage is doing the hard thing even if you’re shaking in your boots.
Courage is speaking the truth even when your voice shakes.
Sometimes showing courage means you have to walk away from the norm.
Step outside of what everyone else is doing. You can live a life of confidence because you’re trusting God’s promises.
When you have no bravery or boldness of your own, you can rest in His strength.
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Corinthians 12:9
10 Courageous Women in the Bible
Courage takes many forms, and we may not recognize it when we first see it. It’s not always the loud, bold women who display courage.
Instead, courage often comes from those who don’t shout it from the housetops.
It comes from those who spend more quiet time with God than boasting about bravery!
God’s Word contains the stories of these 10 Biblical role models.
They didn’t know their stories were being written in the Bible to encourage and inspire generations of women.
They were just going about their lives and doing what God called them to do.
You and I can follow the examples of these strong women and live bravely right now in the twenty-first century!
Noah’s Wife
Can you imagine standing by your husband while he built a boat on dry ground for 120 years?
Before the Great Flood, there had never been rain on the earth. But the people had become so wicked, God determined to destroy them.
However, there was one righteous man and his family who loved and served God faithfully.
So, God called Noah and told him to build an ark to save his family from the destruction of a worldwide flood.
Noah immediately started working on this boat and preaching to anyone who would listen. He told them they needed to repent, or they would be destroyed.
They laughed and mocked him for 120 years while he build the ark.
Finally, God brought the animals into the ark two by two and shut the door.
The rains came for forty days and nights, and only Noah and his family were spared.
Although the Bible doesn’t tell us her name, we know that Noah’s wife was a woman of faith and courage like her husband.
Her dedication to following Noah saved her family from certain death and destruction.
Rahab
If the Bible calls you a harlot, you might think you don’t belong in the hall of faith in Hebrews 11.
But in the book of Joshua, we read the story of Rahab the harlot.
When Joshua sent the two spies to spy out the city of Jericho, they sought refuge in her house.
She hid them under some stalks of flax on her roof and sent the soldiers out of the city to search.
The soldier ordered that the city gates be locked, so if the spies were in Rahab’s house, they could not escape.
But the clever Rahab had a plan.
Her house was a part of the city wall, and she let them down over the side with a rope. She asked that in return the spies save her and her family when they invaded the city.
They promised her safety, but only if she kept her entire family in the house with her, and hung a scarlet thread out her window.
After the children of Israel had marched around the city for seven days, the walls of Jericho fell completely flat.
Except, miraculously, one part of the wall where Rahab’s house stood. All of the people in the city of Jericho died, except Rahab and her family.
Not only did she earn a place in the hall of faith, but she was also given a place in the lineage of Jesus.
Esther
How does a plain, ordinary girl become the queen and save an entire nation of people from death?
The Persian king, King Xerxes had a queen whose name was Vashti.
During a drunken party, he demanded that she come and dance naked for him and his friends. When she refused, he commanded that she be removed as queen, and he chose someone new.
After having many, many beautiful young girls pass before him, King Xerxes chose the one he thought was the most beautiful.
Esther was an orphan Jewish girl who was being raised by her cousin, Mordecai. But suddenly, she became the queen.
When Mordecai learned about a plot by the evil Haman to kill all the Jewish people in the land, he told Queen Esther she needed to go before the king and beg for his mercy.
Esther was frightened, but Mordecai told her that perhaps this was the reason God had made her the queen.
who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
Esther 4:14
Esther agreed to go to the king if Mordecai and all of their people would fast and pray for her.
Finally, the day arrived and Esther went to see the king, risking her own life to save her people.
She knew that he could choose to kill her for coming to see him uninvited.
The king was happy to see Queen Esther, and he accepted her invitation to a banquet.
Esther also invited Haman to the banquet. She told the king and Haman to return the next day, and she would tell the king her true request.
When King Xerxes heard Haman’s plan, he was livid. He had Haman killed and allowed the Jewish people to defend themselves.
This one young woman became Israel’s delivered through her courageous choices to stand up for her people.
Jochebed
One of the major storylines in the Old Testament is the journey of the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt to the Promised Land of Canaan.
God chose one man to save His people from the hand of Pharaoh and lead them to the Promised Land. That man was Moses.
But the story of Moses began with one woman of great courage–the mother of Moses, Jochebed.
When Moses was born, Pharaoh had passed a law that Hebrew midwives to kill any boy baby who was born into a Jewish household.
When the midwives refused to do Pharaoh’s bidding, he demanded that all baby Hebrew boys were to be thrown into the Nile River.
But Jochebed had a faith in God that was greater than her fear of an evil ruler.
She made a basket and with a prayer of faith, put her baby boy into the Nile River.
Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the river to bathe and saw the basket floating among the reeds.
She took the baby and raised him as her own son.
Moses accomplished so many amazing things in his life.
He stood bravely in front of Pharoah, parted the Red Sea, led a large group of people across the wilderness, got water out of a rock (twice!), and met with God in person on Mt. Sinai.
But none of that would’ve happened without the courage of Jochebed.
This one woman changed the course of history with her bravery.
Deborah
It’s no secret that most of the rulers and leaders in Israel were men.
But every once in a while, God called a woman to do something totally out of the norm. I
n the book of Judges, we read the story of the only woman judge in Israel, and how her courage delivered the people of Israel.
Deborah lived under the palm of Deborah, and people came to her to be judged. This was nearly unheard of at the time.
But God’s people had fallen into wickedness, and it seems there were no men who were willing to step forward and judge the people.
So, God called a woman to do the job.
Deborah called for a man named Barak and told him God wanted him to go into battle against the army of Sisera.
Still doubtful and afraid, Barak said he would only go if Deborah went with him.
Deborah said she would, but because of Barak’s fear, he would not receive the honor for the victory, Instead, that honor would go to a woman. (Want to know who? Read the full story in Judges 4-5!)
Sometimes we think God only uses men to win battles.
But Deborah’s courage shows us that God wants to use anyone who is willing. As the only female judge of Israel, Deborah showed us that God can use powerful women who rely on Him for their strength.
Abigail
The story of Abigail is tucked deep in the pages of the Bible in 1 Samuel 25.
She was married to a cruel man named Nabal.
When David was on the run from Saul, he came near Nabal’s property where his men were shearing sheep.
They protected the sheep shearers while they did their work.
David sent his men to ask Nabal to give them some provisions in exchange for helping the shearers.
Nabal was angry and said he wouldn’t give anything to David and his men.
When David heard the news, he told his men to get ready, and tomorrow they would kill Nabal and destroy his farm.
Nabal’s servants come to Abigail and told her what had happened.
She immediately gathered a feast together and went to meet David.
She offered him the food and begged him to have mercy on her husband and their servants.
David was impressed with Abigail’s courage and presence of mind.
He blessed her, and she returned home.
Nabal was having a drunken feast, so Abigail didn’t tell him what she had done until the morning.
When Nabal heard what his wife had done, he became a stone and died ten days later.
David recognized that God had avenged him. After her husband’s death, he sent word to Abigail and asked her to be his wife.
The Bible says she “hasted” and went to meet David.
Not only did the actions of this one strong woman save the lives of her servants, but her courage also impressed the future King David so much that he made her a queen!
The Widow of Zarephath
In the book of 1 King, we read about a great drought and famine in Israel.
God told the prophet, Elijah to go to the brook Cherith.
God sent ravens to feed Elijah, and he drank from the brook. But eventually, it dried up and Elijah needed to go elsewhere.
God told Elijah to go to Zarephath where a widow would take care of him.
When Elijah arrived at Zarephath, he saw the widow with her son picking up sticks. Elijah asked her for some water and some bread.
She said, “I don’t have a cake. All I have is a little bit of meal in a barrel and some oil. I’m going to make a cake for me and my son, and then we’ll die.”
Elijah assured the woman that if she would make a cake for him first, God would take care of her needs.
Elijah stayed there for three years, and the meal and oil never ran out.
During that time, the widow woman’s son died. Elijah laid over him and prayed for God to restore life to the boy.
God heard Elijah’s prayer and the boy came back to life.
Can you imagine how much courage it would’ve taken for her to give the last of her food to the prophet?
But this widow of Zarephath trusted God.
Her strong faith and courage not only provided her with God’s provision for three years during the famine, but it also saved the life of her son.
Mary, the Mother of Jesus
Sometimes we gloss over the miracle of Jesus’ birth because we’re so familiar with the story.
To understand Mary’s courage, we have to really consider the struggles Mary faced as an unwed mother at that time.
The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary while she was a virgin and told her she would have a baby.
She had to have faith to see her through the tough times ahead. An angel also appeared to Joseph and told him about the miracle of Jesus’ birth.
Mary and Joseph were able to trust God’s promise in their own lives.
But their friends, family, and neighbors did not know the truth about Mary’s pregnancy.
Our modern society is much more tolerant and accepting of fornication and single motherhood.
But in New Testament times, a young woman could be stoned if she was pregnant without a husband.
Mary must’ve known when the angel spoke to her that she would face times of hardship as she became a mother without a husband–and who would believe the story she told?
Mary kept sight of the heavenly power of God and faced the ridicule that most certainly accompanied her pregnancy.
When she had given birth to the Savior, and raised Him to manhood, her courage would be called on again.
She watched as her Son, Jesus Christ, was nailed to a cross to die for people who hated Him. She stood there helpless as people cursed her Son Who was dying for them.
Mary’s courage shows us that God is with us when we face the unimaginable, and His grace can uphold us in the toughest times.
The Canaanite Woman
In Matthew 15 we read a very short account of a woman who had a daughter possessed by a devil.
She was not a Jewish woman, but she cried to Jesus, calling Him “Son of David.”
The disciples were annoyed and told her to go away, and Jesus did not acknowledge her.
But she didn’t give up.
The Canaanites were enemies of the Jews, and Jesus told her it was not good to give the children’s bread to dogs.
The woman replied, “Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
Jesus praised her for her great faith, and her daughter was immediately healed.
The faith of this woman, who was an outcast in Israel, brought about the healing of her daughter.
Related: 3 Lessons Lois and Eunice Can Teach Moms About Raising Good Sons
Mary of Bethany
Mary of Bethany was the sister of Martha and Lazarus.
Yes, the same Lazarus who Jesus raised from the dead. The Bible tells us that Jesus loved Lazarus and his sisters, and He often visited them in their home.
The week before His crucifixion, Jesus joined them for a meal.
While He sat at dinner, Mary came into the room and broke an expensive bottle of perfume over His feet, drying them with her hair.
She was mocked and ridiculed for this, particularly by Judas Iscariot and the other disciples.
They thought she should’ve sold the ointment and given the money to the poor.
But Jesus was pleased with her sacrifice. He told those around Him that wherever the gospel is preached throughout the whole world, people would always remember her sacrifice. (Matthew 26:13)
And here we are, talking about it today.
Her courage to do something others thought was weird or too extravagant earned her a place in Scripture.
Mary of Bethany is an example of courageous sacrifice to women of all ages.
How to Be Like These Biblical Women of Courage
As modern women, we aren’t often called on to follow our husbands for 120 years, go to battle with a man who is a coward, or feed our families from one barrel of meal for three years.
However, we are called to be like these brave women of the Bible in other ways. We can learn from and follow their examples to do the right thing and follow God’s call in every season of life.
- Go against the grain to save our families like Noah’s wife and Rahab.
- Trust God’s plan in difficult situations like Esther and the widow of Zarephath.
- Stand up and protect our children like Jochebed and Canaanite woman.
- Be a leader like Deborah.
- Bring calm in a chaotic situation like Abigail.
- Trust God when our hearts are breaking like Mary, the mother of Jesus.
- Go outside of the norm to serve God like Mary of Bethany.
Put It Into Action
Want to dig in deeper and study the stories of these incredible women? Download your free study guide.
In this free plan, you’ll read the Bible verses and passages that tell the stories of these women, and answer thought-provoking study questions to help you apply these truths in your own life.
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