Throughout Advent until Epiphany, I read a devotional entitled, Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas. In the introduction the author writes, “If the essence of Advent is expectancy, it is also readiness for action: watchfulness for every opening, and willingness to risk everything for freedom and a new beginning”(xvi, emphasis mine). The idea of risk and dangerous has been a constant theme in my life for several years. Risk is part of the definition of adventure. Adventure serves as a major part of discipleship in my theology.
As I approached my Words for the Year, “Risk” continued to come to the forefront for me. It can be applied in a variety of areas of my life where I sense God calling me to step out of my comfort zone and be willing to experience failure or less than desired results. Some of those areas include fitness/nutrition, new ministry opportunities, deeper intimacy from transparency and accountability, and becoming more efficient.
For me “risk” is experienced in completion—that is saying, “I have done enough. It is time to complete this task and put it to bed.” To finish something is risky because it means I relinquish control to allow someone else to consume it. Whether it is writing a devotion, printing a newsletter, preaching the sermon, making the phone call, etc., there is a point where I relinquish control and allow my cards to be seen. This goes with the myriad of ideas I have vision-casted in front of people, but then not completed. An interesting quote I read in E. Stanley Jones’ devotion Christian Maturity spoke to me on this matter. “Our substitutions of half-performances for whole promises bring whole inner bondage. We become an inner battleground, strewn with the wreckage of broken promises, half-fulfilled pledges, and taken-back consecrations. We promised much, did little, and became less” (387). Then recently when my family ate at Asian Star in Princeton, Indiana, one of the fortunes in a cookie stated, “Ideas not coupled with action never become bigger than the brain cells they occupied.” So, risk for me is putting into action the ideas, visions, dreams, and plans I have placed into public consumption or that bounce in my head on a regular basis.
Jesus’ invitation for us to follow him comes with a level of risk and danger. He told the disciples, “If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18) and “In the world you face persecution, but take courage; I have conquered the world (John 16:33). When God called Abram in Genesis 12:1, God said, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” In our surrendered life, we trust the Lord, leaving behind what seems “safe” to forge ahead into what is unknown to us, but known to God.
Where is God inviting you to take risks: Complete the project you have talked about for months or years? Reach out to someone in need? Share your faith with someone who does not know Jesus? Travel to new places in the United States or around the world?
In 2024, I plan to take more risks as God leads me out of my comfort zone.
Prayer: Lord, you call me to places I have never been, to be part of what you are doing in those places. You put visions in my heart and strengthen me to live into the vision. I fear the risks you call me to in my life, but in this New Year, I want to take the risks to see “your Kingdom come and your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Thank you for your invitation to “follow me.” In Jesus’ name, Amen.