We have to be braver than we think we can be, because God is constantly calling us to be more than we are.

The line frames courage not as a rare heroic trait but as a recurring requirement of spiritual growth. L’Engle links bravery to vocation: the divine call continually exceeds our self-estimates, pressing us beyond comfort, fear, and the identities we think are fixed. The quote also implies that becoming “more than we are” is not self-aggrandizement but transformation—an enlargement of love, responsibility, and imagination in response to grace. In that sense, bravery is the practical form of faith: acting as though the call is trustworthy even when our capacities feel inadequate. The emphasis falls on ongoing becoming rather than a single decisive act.