Risk. That's a four letter word that ranks up there with some of the mightiest curse words. It's what every person in the world faces at many times in their lives. No one can ever avoid it.
Life has its risks. There are those who thrive on risk taking and others who shy away from it as best as they can. Risking has its costs - financially, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. On the reverse side, the potential benefits from risking can be immense.
In our walk of faith, we will encounter many opportunities where we will be called to risk. Stepping out of our comfort zones. Not a place a lot of people like to be. Fear of rejection, fear of failure, or fear of ridicule can be obstacles from risking. What stops you? I know what stops me and it is a lot of fear.
There are many instances of risk taking when we read the Bible. Abram risked going from the land of his birth and family to a land God called him to. Moses risked by falling God's call to Egypt to free the nation of Israel. Peter risked by stepping out onto the water when Jesus called. These are just a couple of examples, but I can relate many more. Yet, even though they risked - they still stumbled and failed at various times in their lives. Even after their failures, they continued to follow the call God had laid out for them. Peter, alone, sank in the water due to fear, denied Jesus three times, and routinely stuck his foot in his mouth. Still, Peter is considered one of the great leaders of the early church.
I mention Peter because he had his flaws just like we do. We let fear get in the way of what God calls us to risk. That could be as simple as talking to a stranger or going on a missions trip to another country. We fear that we are going to fail.
Would we be willing to risk more if we knew there wasn't going to be bumps in the road and everything would end up "perfectly"? We all would. It wouldn't be risk if we already knew the future. Do we fear failure or the unknown more?
We are going to slip up and fail. We wont do everything perfectly. It happens to all of us at points in our lives. Even doing ministry or listening to God, there is a chance we can get it wrong. We can retreat or try again if we do stumble.
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" 2 Corinthians 12:9a
My favorite football player is and was Brett Favre. He was the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers for many years along with a couple of other teams. He held records for touchdown passes and yards thrown for a career. Definitely a Hall of Fame career. But, he also threw a lot of interceptions, especially in critical situations. I think his final pass for the Packers was an interception that sealed a playoff loss. Yet, he didn't stop throwing passes after any interception. He went out and tried again.
It's the same mentality a closer in baseball has. His job is to get the final three outs in a game and preserve the victory. Most of the time they are successful. But there are times that they fail in this duty. Yet, the next day the manager calls his name again with the game on the line.
It's a mentality where you push out the prior events from your mind and focus on the job facing you. In the case of Favre, keep slinging passes and trusting that you can get it to the right guy. It's called having a gunslinger mentality. Keep firing and trying until you achieve success.
But, in our walk, it is not our own ability that we will achieve success.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" Proverbs 3:5
We need to trust God's plan when we are called to risk. Knowing that God has prepared the way, we can forget what has happened prior. Having a gunslinger mentality, we can push forward. Who knows what is true success and what is true failure? What we might see as failure, may not necessarily be the same in God's eyes. Is God hindered by our failures or elevated by our "successes"? Are we willing to learn when we do "fail"?
There is always going to be risks when we follow God's call. But we know that God provides the means. What do we truly risk when we follow God?
Life has its risks. There are those who thrive on risk taking and others who shy away from it as best as they can. Risking has its costs - financially, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. On the reverse side, the potential benefits from risking can be immense.
In our walk of faith, we will encounter many opportunities where we will be called to risk. Stepping out of our comfort zones. Not a place a lot of people like to be. Fear of rejection, fear of failure, or fear of ridicule can be obstacles from risking. What stops you? I know what stops me and it is a lot of fear.
There are many instances of risk taking when we read the Bible. Abram risked going from the land of his birth and family to a land God called him to. Moses risked by falling God's call to Egypt to free the nation of Israel. Peter risked by stepping out onto the water when Jesus called. These are just a couple of examples, but I can relate many more. Yet, even though they risked - they still stumbled and failed at various times in their lives. Even after their failures, they continued to follow the call God had laid out for them. Peter, alone, sank in the water due to fear, denied Jesus three times, and routinely stuck his foot in his mouth. Still, Peter is considered one of the great leaders of the early church.
I mention Peter because he had his flaws just like we do. We let fear get in the way of what God calls us to risk. That could be as simple as talking to a stranger or going on a missions trip to another country. We fear that we are going to fail.
Would we be willing to risk more if we knew there wasn't going to be bumps in the road and everything would end up "perfectly"? We all would. It wouldn't be risk if we already knew the future. Do we fear failure or the unknown more?
We are going to slip up and fail. We wont do everything perfectly. It happens to all of us at points in our lives. Even doing ministry or listening to God, there is a chance we can get it wrong. We can retreat or try again if we do stumble.
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" 2 Corinthians 12:9a
My favorite football player is and was Brett Favre. He was the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers for many years along with a couple of other teams. He held records for touchdown passes and yards thrown for a career. Definitely a Hall of Fame career. But, he also threw a lot of interceptions, especially in critical situations. I think his final pass for the Packers was an interception that sealed a playoff loss. Yet, he didn't stop throwing passes after any interception. He went out and tried again.
It's the same mentality a closer in baseball has. His job is to get the final three outs in a game and preserve the victory. Most of the time they are successful. But there are times that they fail in this duty. Yet, the next day the manager calls his name again with the game on the line.
It's a mentality where you push out the prior events from your mind and focus on the job facing you. In the case of Favre, keep slinging passes and trusting that you can get it to the right guy. It's called having a gunslinger mentality. Keep firing and trying until you achieve success.
But, in our walk, it is not our own ability that we will achieve success.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" Proverbs 3:5
We need to trust God's plan when we are called to risk. Knowing that God has prepared the way, we can forget what has happened prior. Having a gunslinger mentality, we can push forward. Who knows what is true success and what is true failure? What we might see as failure, may not necessarily be the same in God's eyes. Is God hindered by our failures or elevated by our "successes"? Are we willing to learn when we do "fail"?
There is always going to be risks when we follow God's call. But we know that God provides the means. What do we truly risk when we follow God?
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