It’s not about the risk …

“Taking risks is the gateway to change and achievement” is often what you will hear from a variety of leaders and those considered to be “successful.”

I can understand the initial thought behind such statements. Some of my own best experiences have come after taking the most significant risks I’ve faced.

A several years ago, I had the freedom to move to Hawaii. I didn’t know a single person there. I didn’t have any means of generating income lined up. I would be moving to Oahu, but the only thing I knew about the island was the time spent changing planes while on vacation to Maui.

The move would bring significant change. I had grown up living in the suburbs on the mainland, with a couple rural experiences. But living in Hawaii would actually mean a change to urban living in a city of high-rises in Waikiki.

Taking the risk turned out to be a real time of blessing and, in some aspects, three of the best years of my life.

I wound up living on the 26th floor of a high-rise among a very diverse and international population where I was an ethnic minority. And I loved it!

Okay, I admit living less than two blocks from the beach was a significant plus for the experience. But, the blessings of my time living very differently in a very different place couldn’t have happened without taking some very real risks.

However, the “success” of the move wasn’t the result of taking risks, but rather, of exercising faith. It was a matter of following God’s direction for my life, trusting Him with change, and stepping out in faith.

Like my experience in Hawaii, moving forward, creating positive change, and pursuing God’s will for your life more often isn’t about risk-taking as much as it is an exercise in faith.

When we put our trust in a loving, omniscient, omnipotent, holy God, risks melt away. When we examine the great events in scripture, we miss the greater point if all we see are the great risks taken by men and women of God. The extraordinary things God achieved through these biblical characters came out of their stepping out in faith in God, not from simply taking a risk.

It’s a risky thing simply to cross the street in a sidewalk of a busy intersection. Life is full of risks. Moving forward, creating change, maturing, and discovering God’s best for you comes from exercising faith, even in the face of risk.

With that said, the opposite is true. Not moving forward, not growing, remaining stuck where you are, and not discovering God’s will for your life come when we fail to trust God with our lives. One of our greatest failures in life comes when we see trusting God as a risk too great to take. Discovering fullness of life in Christ is not about the risks involved, but the faith exercised.

Are you stuck because you see trusting God as too risky a venture? Or are you moving forward by walking in faith?

Scotty