The Story: A Conversation I Can’t Forget

A few months ago, I sat across from a friend let’s call her “T.” She was tense, voice low, eyes fixed on the table. “I’m just being obedient,” she whispered. “But every time I speak, the room tightens.”

She wasn’t exaggerating. Her voice carried weight, and she felt it. “I’ve started watering it down,” she admitted. “Just enough to keep the peace.”

I placed a hand over hers and said, “Maybe it’s not that you’re too much. Maybe your voice wasn’t meant to blend  it was meant to break through.

Her eyes lifted. “Break what?”

“Silence. Systems. Structures that thrive when you stay quiet. Your sound shakes what’s dormant, it wasn’t meant to settle. It was meant to shake.”

Her tension softened. She wasn’t shrinking from pride; she was shrinking from pressure. But her roar? Not rebellion. Revelation. And the discomfort? Just proof that her voice was moving what needed to move.

 God’s Order: Making Before Commissioning

Let’s be clear: God is not in a rush to use what He hasn’t fully formed. From Genesis to Revelation, we see a consistent pattern in His process, formation before elevation, obscurity before visibility, wilderness before commissioning.

Let’s walk through it:

• Moses, He was raised in Pharaoh’s palace but spent 40 years in the desert learning the language of obscurity. He went from a prince to a shepherd. Why? Because God doesn’t send deliverers who don’t first know how to walk with the weight of the people, they’ll free (Exodus 3).
• David, He was anointed by the prophet Samuel, but he didn’t take the throne immediately. He went back to the fields. He played the harp for a troubled king. He hid in caves. He ran for his life. He was called “king” long before he wore a crown, because God was shaping a heart that could carry a nation (1 Samuel 16 → 2 Samuel 5).
• Jesus, The Messiah. The Word made flesh. Yet He spent 30 years in quiet surrender before 3½ years of public ministry. He grew in wisdom, stature, and favor in the secret place (Luke 2:52). If the Son of God was made in hiddenness before He was revealed, how much more should we honor the process?

The key: God’s making is always more about who you’re becoming than what you’ll do. Because when your character is formed in private, your calling won’t collapse in public.

Don’t despise the days that feel unnoticed. Don’t curse the cave season. The oil is forming. And when He finally says “go,” you’ll realize the wait was never wasted, it was a work of love.

The Cost of Staying Silent

•  You’ll normalize bondage and label it “being humble.”
•  You’ll let counterfeit voices write the script you were born to lead.
• You’ll walk in survival when you are called to reign in authority.

What’s Holding You Back?

• Fear of being misunderstood?
• Still nursing wounds from past rejection?
• Tired of carrying weight no one sees?

Let’s get honest, it’s not that your roar disappeared. You’ve just been waiting for permission…

God already gave it.

Firebrand Prayer of the Month

Lord,
Reignite the fire I’ve let flicker. Restore my roar. Break the muzzle, lift the weight. Let this month mark my rising. In clarity, in courage, in unshakable authority. Make me bold in stance and unstoppable in sound. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 Reflection Questions

1. Where have I been silent to keep the peace?
2. What truth do I need to speak about, even if it’s unpopular?
3. What would rising and roaring look like in my current season?

Wrapping It Up

Firebrand,
This is your rise and roar moment. You’ve survived the pressing. You’ve matured in the middle. Now heaven is calling your sound forward.

The same God who met you in the silence is now commissioning your voice. The world doesn’t need another echo. It needs your roar.
So rise. And let it be known you didn’t survive the crushing just to stay silent.

Firebrand,
Don’t let this month slip by with your mouth muted and your stance unsure.
What God placed in you isn’t background noise , it’s a battle cry.
The roar isn’t optional. It’s your assignment.

So, rise. Roar. Repeat.

Loud. Unapologetic. Unstoppable.

With fire,
Dora Mensah
Founder, Firebrand Global Network
Unmuzzled. Unapologetic. Unstoppable.