A risk worth taking.
January 5, 2010
God has recently challenged me to look at risk-taking, how it applies to my life, others around me and the impact it can have on the Church. This is part 1, which I hope will stir you, encourage you and help you expect God to speak to you. We should be expectant to hear from God, especially when we have decisions that require taking a risk. We won’t always get it right but our faith will grow and we will continue to learn how to hear God’s voice in our lives.
God has called us to take risks for Kingdom advance and Kingdom purposes. The Bible gives account after account of men and women who obediently and courageously stepped up and took risks for God in order to see more of Him. We can see in these people their eternal perspectives, they so often weren’t consumed with the temporal, the grappling of fear but they saw and heard God and so they acted on that basis alone. The result of your risk-taking affects more than just you, it can affect a multitude of people, family, friends, people you will never meet, maybe the Church. When David stood up against Goliath the risk didn’t only affect him if he was killed, far greater was the risk if whole army was to be affected.
I love the courage and risk taking in the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who declared that they would not serve Nebuchadnezzar’s God’s. They believed that God, the true God, would deliver them from the fiery furnace (and would trust Him even if He didn’t). Fancy taking a risk like that today?!
The 3 things I will touch on, 1 in this blog entry and 2 in the next are…Living a life of risk for God, Empowered for risk by the Holy Spirit and finally The price of risk and the victory of Jesus.
Living a life of risk for God
What do we mean when we speak about living a life of risk for God? It sounds somewhat crazy. Do I mean we should all become missionaries overnight? Maybe, but not in the way you may be thinking. If we are believers and followers of Jesus, then we should be living out mission in our daily lives. The question I am asking is, ‘Are we willing to live truly for God, being obedient to His voice, do we spend time listening to what He has to say?’ If we are on mission, seeking to do His will then this will radically change the direction of our life, our days will look vastly different from when we weren’t concerned with this. Are we called to live for God, yes! Are we called to take risks for God, based on what we read in the Bible, another emphatic yes.
When we see this part answered it makes things so much clearer. The risk has just gone up 100% for how we live our life! We are, of course, also called to be wise also so don’t take me wrong. When I wake up in the morning I want to be expectant to meet with God, hear from Him afresh and to then live my life accordingly. This may mean that I look to change my attitude, the way I speak about others, the conversations I choose not to join in with. This may mean that when the opportunity comes along I tell my friends about Church on Sunday, about the people who got healed, the people who got saved, when the next alpha course is. This may mean that I intentionally wake up earlier to spend time with God, listen to worship music in the car instead of hard rock, pray out or use the spiritual gifts God has given me in the prayer meeting and Sunday service. This may mean that I look back at the prophetic words over my life and to what God is saying now; a change of job perhaps, joining another church even in another country, starting a relationship.
God speaks life into us, He also speaks to us about life, He is concerned with our whole lives. The more time we spend in God’s presence the more we will want to be like him. Risky, because of what the world might think? Absolutely. Risky, because it’s counter-cultural? Very much so. Taking risks for God is not easy, it will sometimes hurt, but God wants a people who will say that they stand before God above all else. Is God calling us to take risks today?! Let us be humble, listen to the voice of the Father and give all glory to Him. When it’s for God, it’s always a risk worth taking.
Part 2 of A risk worth taking will follow soon…
Hey Lyndon . . . awesome thoughts! Timely from my vantage point. Thanks.
Hi Jon
Many thanks for that. That fits in so well with Terry’s preach last Sunday. I felt God speaking to me through Terry to do something; to move forward in a big way; to take risks. I didn’t know exactly what God wanted me to do so I asked Terry to pray for me which he did. I then came across Psalm 32 verse 8: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” So I knew God would show me. And through your blog He has! I have written a few bullet points down which I will pray for guidance and build the way I live my Christian life as from now. Thanks again, Paul
Hi Jon
Thanks so much for sharing. I can hardly wait for part 2!
It was very encouraging and challenging for me as I read this to take time to reflect on how God has asked me to take a risk even when I did not see it as ‘risky’ in the beginning. I do know that most of the risks I proudly say ‘yes’ to with no hesitation are some of the most character building that I encouter.
Keep up the great work, Jon. You really should write a book!
Thanks,
Rita