This morning's sermon was about risk. In the way of background: our church sold it's building, purchased land to construct a larger building (groundbreaking in March), and starting today will be meeting in the gym of a Christian school. Change is always hard.
Pastor gave a good quote from a book he has been reading. I did not catch the title (it was something about risk and ambition) and the sermon is not online yet for me to listen to again so I am not able to give proper credit at this time.
Anyway, it was "Risk always leads us to experience God in a deeper way. This is by design. Risk rescues us from misplaced security by anchoring us in the eternal."
Faith involves risk.
As he was speaking about big changes and trust and being willing to overcome risk and follow faithfully I started thinking about my own recent journey. It was less than a year ago when I had to decide whether or not to be obedient to God's call for me to pick up and move to Montana. That was risky! I had to leave behind everything that felt secure to me. It's not something I could or would have done without the assurance that this is what God wanted for me. I have to be totally dependent on Him. Now I have additional job responsibilites as well as the ones I signed on for. It's a great challenge. There's a huge risk possibly coming up (that I can't tell you about yet) that I never would have seen happening in my life.
Pastor gave a good quote from a book he has been reading. I did not catch the title (it was something about risk and ambition) and the sermon is not online yet for me to listen to again so I am not able to give proper credit at this time.
Anyway, it was "Risk always leads us to experience God in a deeper way. This is by design. Risk rescues us from misplaced security by anchoring us in the eternal."
Faith involves risk.
As he was speaking about big changes and trust and being willing to overcome risk and follow faithfully I started thinking about my own recent journey. It was less than a year ago when I had to decide whether or not to be obedient to God's call for me to pick up and move to Montana. That was risky! I had to leave behind everything that felt secure to me. It's not something I could or would have done without the assurance that this is what God wanted for me. I have to be totally dependent on Him. Now I have additional job responsibilites as well as the ones I signed on for. It's a great challenge. There's a huge risk possibly coming up (that I can't tell you about yet) that I never would have seen happening in my life.
I won't lie and say that any of this has been completely easy or that I have not had doubts or "what in the world am I doing here" moments. It's those moments that I cry out to God. And He hears me. And answers me. And sends along sweet bits of encouragement.
Later in the day I got to thinking about what kinds of small risks I could be taking everyday.
Can I talk to people about Christ?
Can I invite someone from church to lunch?
Can I find a way to encourage someone who might be struggling worse than I am?
Can I get involved with a community outreach?
Can I react nicer to the people that annoy me?
The answers, of course, are YES, YES, YES, YES, YES.
Can I do it...yes I can.
Will I do it...maybe.
Later in the day I got to thinking about what kinds of small risks I could be taking everyday.
Can I talk to people about Christ?
Can I invite someone from church to lunch?
Can I find a way to encourage someone who might be struggling worse than I am?
Can I get involved with a community outreach?
Can I react nicer to the people that annoy me?
The answers, of course, are YES, YES, YES, YES, YES.
Can I do it...yes I can.
Will I do it...maybe.
This is a cartoon I cut out of the paper back in 2006. Even then I knew I had a "maybe" attitude. I kind of want to put this in a little frame on my desk in the office.
Let me encourage you to LIVE RISKY. You can share your experiences in the comment section if you want to. Trust God. He will be there every step of the way.
The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Deuteronomy 31:8
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Rescuing Ambition by Dave Harvey
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