To the degree you and I are living lives that are less than God's dream for us, we need a change.
But there's the rub – that usually involves taking risks, risks that, if you're like me, you want to avoid. So how do we view risk?
I have a love/hate relationship with risk. Let's admit the truth: Life is full of risk. We spend our lives calculating how we can take more or less of it.
- Go without life insurance – small risk.
- Go without car insurance – bigger risk.
- Go bungee jumping – even bigger risk.
- Sit at home all day – no risk. Or is it?
Sit at home all day every day and you may not risk life and limb, but you risk living a boring life. And by that standard, every action carries with it some risk. It's a question of what kind of risk you want to incur.
You can choose to not fly in airplanes. Cars seem safer. But in fact, cars are 2200 times riskier than planes. Your chances of dying in a plane are 1 in 11 million.
Physical risks are the most obvious. But what about the emotional risks you take in getting to know another person? What about the risk of embarrassment when doing a new thing?
And what about spiritual risks? What would they be?
Maybe you are an atheist, what risks are you incurring? A pretty big one is God exists and you're flat out wrong. Take it another step – what if he exists and is a personal God who wants to be known? As an atheist, your risk of not just being wrong, but missing out, may be higher than you care to admit.
And what if that same personal God wants you to discover a life of peace and joy and you've discounted the possibility? What if you've chosen to believe a lie that there is no hope when in fact there is? What kind of a risk are you incurring?
Given that risk is an inevitable part of life, I'm committed to at least being aware of the tradeoffs in my choices. I don't want to bury my head in the sand and pretend that I'm not taking risks when really I am.
If I'm going to risk, I'm going to risk boldly and intentionally.
What risks are you taking but not admitting? Are you taking the risk of not singing the songs that are inside you, of not doing the dream that carry with you? Will you die knowing that you gave it all you had, or are you really incurring the risk of dying with regrets?
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This is so, so good.
It seems the opposite of “risk” is “comfort”, which is much easier to engage in.
As Helen Keller used to say (and i kept the poster in front of my face for many years): “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” Hey- hadn’t thought of it before, but that would be a good tagline for y’all since you have Adventure in your title and your bloodstream.
amen.
This helped me to think outside the box. When I think “risk, ” I think about bungee jumping, quitting my job, etc. I don’t think about sitting on my couch all day or staying in the job. This is a helpful shift in perspective. Thanks!