By: Steve Wilmot
Edgerton, Ohio
Risks are… well, risky. But life is peppered with risks. When you love someone, you risk being rejected and hurt.
To try to do anything is to risk failure and possible ridicule. While most risks are optional, many are unavoidable.
Every time you get in your car to drive somewhere, you risk an accident that could kill you or drastically alter the rest of your life.
The biggest regret men and women in their 80s and 90s identify is they didn’t risk often enough. If they had a do-over, they’d zipline, ask the girl out on a date, accept the promotion with greater responsibilities, move to another state, or follow their dreams.
They feel in old age they missed something because they always chose the safe path and avoided uncertain adventure.
Anyone who shies away from risk-taking does nothing substantial and has nothing to be proud of. He may avoid suffering, sorrow, and heartache, but he never really lives or loves either. He can’t learn, change for the better, or grow.
God usually calls his followers to take risks. God called Abraham to live a life of risk. He told him to leave everything that was safe and familiar to “go to a land I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). Leave it all behind and head into the unknown. Yikes!
After being placed on Pharaoh’s most wanted list, Moses spent 40 comfortable years away from danger herding sheep until one day God called him to return to Egypt and lead the Israelites from bondage.
Moses offered excuse after excuse, but God insisted, so Moses risked his life, stepped out of his comfort zone, and did what God told him to do.
Each of Jesus’ disciples left everything to follow him. Something about Jesus gave them the courage to take that huge risk and go with him.
I’ve discovered that the times of my greatest growth as a man have come only after I stepped out of my fear and taken a risk.
There were scary times, but every time I chose against playing it safe forced me to lean on God in new ways. I had to trust him and walk by faith, and every time, I found him to be faithful.
I learned he knew what he was doing when he called me to take the risk, and it always resulted in something good. They were the times I most felt alive.
Song of Solomon describes God’s pursuit of a growing passionate love between him and us. It zeroes in on those enjoyable times of intimacy and safety and laughter and feasting.
But God knows those times are not enough. “Listen! My lover! Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills… My lover spoke and said to me, ‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me’” (SOS 2:8, 10).
He longs for us to accompany him on risky quests to deepen our love and teach us he is dependable to protect and provide for us.
But in the Song, the maiden didn’t want to go. She wasn’t interested in engaging the dangers of the unknown. She had grown accustomed to the comfort zone and didn’t want to leave. “Jesus, you go on and I’ll stay here. Come back soon.”
In the next chapter, she’s alone, desperately missing her Lover. The separation is too much for her, so she leaves her comfort zone and searches to find him. To tell him she is done with a risk-free life. A life without purpose, excitement, or danger. A life without faith.
We cannot grow spiritually or deepen our relationship with God if we refuse to take risks and learn to trust him. Our lives won’t matter or accomplish anything important without taking risks.
There was a very cautious man
Who never laughed or played;
He never risked, he never tried,
He never sang or prayed.
And when one day he passed away
The insurance company wouldn’t pay
For since he never really lived,
They claimed he never died!
What risk is God asking you to take?
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Steve Wilmot is a former Edgerton, Ohio area pastor who now seeks “to still bear fruit in old age” through writing. He is the author of seven books designed to assist believers to make steady progress on their spiritual journey.