RISK

(8/13/09)
(At Home)

Hi God. It is great to be able to sit down and spend a few quality moments with you. It feels so good to just stop and breathe (and I don’t just mean physically).

As I was finishing up Francis Chan’s book, “Crazy Love”, one passage seemed to sum me up perfectly:

I wrote this book because much of our talk doesn’t match our lives. We say things like, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” and “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.” Then we live and plan like we don’t believe God even exists. We try to set our lives up so everything will be fine even if God doesn’t come through. But true faith means holding nothing back. It means putting every hope in God’s fidelity to His promises. (1)

As part of the refrain of Nickel Creek’s poignant song “Doubting Thomas” says, “Oh me of little faith”. This “faith-flaw” has followed me and characterized me for years. I give money only when I can get all the numbers to add up right. I carefully calculate my commitments to You so that I don’t have to risk “my” dreams or “my” plans in the process. I feel like I don’t really take many risks at all, even though my church’s slogan is “Love loud… risk often”. And though I have made progress in this area, more often then not, I tend to play it safe.

On the surface, playing it safe has its advantages. You can keep everything in your life a lot “tidier” – no messy relationships with questionable people who make questionable choices… no uncertainty or stress over how you’re gonna get the bills paid after showing generosity to someone… no worries about the future and what it will look like (all of that has already been mapped out in advance and planned to the nth degree). However, playing it safe also has its price – because playing it safe, God, leaves You no room to work. How can You possibly show us Your power if we never risk anything? RISK INVITES GOD TO SHOW US HIS POWER. Risk (for God’s gain, not our own) is the ultimate act of faith. When we risk, we invite God into the process – we actually dare God to show up.

I am reminded here of stories of spiritual giants from the Bible, like Moses lifting his staff to part the Red Sea (Exodus 14); like Elijah soaking the offering on the altar with water, and then asking God to consume it with fire during his “showdown” with the priests of Baal (I Kings 18); like Daniel boldly standing for God, even though he knew he was risking a “death sentence” in a den of lions (Daniel 6); like Peter stepping out onto the water to walk toward Jesus (Matthew 14); and like Peter healing Aeneas and raising Dorcas from the dead (Acts 9). When we risk to the point that we will look like complete idiots if You don’t show up, then and only then are we really operating in the realm of faith.

When we trust in our own abilities, imaginations, skills, and powers, we limit our outcome to merely what man can do. But when we take a risk – something that may look absolutely foolish to the world around us – we open up the possibility of a God-sized outcome. When we operate in the realm of faith – when we risk for Your Kingdom’s sake – we see what You are capable of. And You are capable of more than our wildest dreams.

And so, I frequently find myself in the same faith-posture as the father of the demon-possessed boy that Jesus encountered, as recorded in Mark 9:

21 “How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father.
He replied, “Since he was a little boy… 22 Have mercy on him and help us, if you can.”
23 “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”
24 The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my disbelief.”

God, I believe that You can do amazing things when we walk in amazing faith. I believe that Your actions are sometimes limited by our lack of vision. I believe that I could see more God-sized things accomplished if I took more risks for Your Kingdom’s sake. So if I believe these things, then what’s the hold-up? It is the other side of me – my unbelief. Unbelief drives me to play it safe, to carefully measure out my “risks”, to hide behind my plans and schemes.

I think that Jesus’ actions after that father’s confession of belief/unbelief are interesting. He refrains from giving the father a stern verbal rebuke for his lack of faith (one is not recorded here, at least). Jesus also refrains from refusing to help the boy – on the contrary, He heals him immediately. He shows grace, mercy, and compassion to the father and his troubled son. And since I suffer from the same dichotomy of faith as this father did, it is good to know, God, that You operate with grace, mercy, and compassion, even as we struggle to find faith.

And so, God, help me to be a man of strong faith, a man of outrageous courage, and a man of bold action. Help me to take big risks for Your Kingdom, so I can see what big things You can accomplish through a life totally yielded to You. Show me Your power, O God.

I believe… help me overcome my disbelief.


ENDNOTES:

1. Francis Chan, Crazy Love (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2008),168.