We can be addicted to safety.  What makes me feel secure, at all cost, I will establish. We spend money, resources, and time in an effort to bring stability and a sense of control.

If you are a parent, you realize the importance of stability and predictability.  Children need stability to survive and grow into adults who can successfully function in society.  Perhaps that is why we, as adults, get into a routine and find it hard to risk.

What if God is calling you out, to stretch, to move, to stop being addicted to playing it safe?

Peter walking on the water is the perfect story from the Bible that we often study to convey the importance of getting out of that potential sinking boat and into the great unknown, doing something crazy, like walking on water.  He did it.  For just a little while he walked on water, and when he fell, Jesus was there. I have to imagine that events like this gave Peter greater confidence later in his ministry when Jesus was no longer walking beside him, but the Holy Spirit was guiding him.

Even though I know, due to experience and logic, that any risk has its consequences, I’m such an optimist.  If we take the feelings surrounding “this is good” or “this is bad” out of the risk, we are more apt to go forth and stay the course.

Paul in I Corinthians 16 shares an amazing opportunity–a door wide open for Him to go through, but he acknowledges, up front, that he will also have many adversaries.

BLAH!

That’s my first reaction.  How about you?  Don’t you start listing pros and cons? What if God is calling you out of “safe” to muddle through the cons?

This stepping out of the boat could be anything God is using in your life. We often think of a job or a move, but I think God calls us more to the day-to-day things, like relationships, habits, health, getting involved in community or local worship, changing your attitude, or showing up in someone’s life.

James 1: 5-8 is a great passage.  Basically, God is saying ask and receive, don’t ask and doubt.  He gives generously and without rebuke. That’s the other place we give up.  We make mistakes on the journey of risk-taking and figure God is disappointed in us. You don’t have to be perfect.  He only requires for you to accept His love and allow Him to work in you and to trust that He will provide the right resources at the right time.

What pleases God most in this risk-taking?

John 6: 28-29  Belief!  Believe in the One!

Your first step into the great unknown may seem unfamiliar and dark, but God’s light will shine in the darkness and step by step He provides a way.

In my years of experience in stepping out into the unknown, I have discovered that God requires upfront faith and work.  You must take the steps without knowing outcomes.  The practical side of this looks like filling out the paperwork or application, reading books and God’s Word on the attitude adjustment you are working on, showing up and giving it a try, making the phone call, spending the money, making mistakes, etc…..

These steps turn into opportunities and doors that will open.

Oh how beautiful and exhilarating when we are offered an open door! We have learned not to judge this opportunity as good or bad, but acknowledge that with all opportunities, adversaries will exist.  We embrace both. We ask and receive the promise that He will never leave us, nor forsake us.