Why do people stay at jobs they hate? Why do some seem to excel while others simply exist? Why do some share their brilliant ideas and yet…do nothing? My father-in-law hated his job for years….was three years away from retirement…and they laid him off. A good friend felt called to the field…married instead and now is on the brink of divorce. Another friend chose the American dream over the dream God gave them…and now their financially ruined and the family is torn apart. They chose safety over risk. They chose the known over the unknown.
So what happens when we do take risks….does it always turn out good? Not always.
I take great comfort from the life of Joseph…he had a dream and simply shared it with others (risk)…next thing he knows he’s a slave…presumed dead. Then he has a chance to score with the bosses wife and instead he runs (risk)…lands him in jail. Then he interprets some dreams for the kings staff (risk) and then ends up forgotten and alone in jail. But then it pays off….and he ends up basically running the kingdom and being reconciled to the family. Was it worth the risk?
Too many times we have an idea, a dream, a vision and like Joseph when we take the risk….we find ourselves sucking wind trying to make sense of what just happened. Most turn back at this point…most accept their role as a slave….make the most of it and live in the wasteland between dreams. We’ve been there….we’ve paid some significant professional and relational prices this term not because of sin but because we heard from God and took a risk. And we’re in the middle taking another one…and honestly I don’t know how it’s going to turn out.
We have two options in life. Play it safe…tow the line…conform….be numbed down…slowly die and possibly still end up screwed in the end OR….Take the risk….engage the dream….come alive….tell a story….help change the world….and live a life others are secretly jealous of…..and leave the results to God. None of us are promised a tomorrow….none of us have 100% job security….none of us know whether playing it safe will turn out like we hope. I’d rather live and take the risk.
thanks to Seth Godin for the inspiration
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Reminds me of a quote used on an insurance commercial about 10 years ago (and perhaps it’s from somewhere else, too): “The greatest risk in life is not taking one.”
The authentic Christian missional life is all about risk on many levels, whether or not you’re officially a missionary, pastor, etc. I suspect people, Christian or not, avoid risk because they think that selecting the avoidance option equals knowing the outcome–but that’s not always true.
I’ve found that, even when I’ve took a risk and it’s failed, God always seems to teach from that experience, and some of the risks have led me to the next step in the path that wasn’t obvious without the risk experience.
where are you? been missing your posts lately.