My small group has been studying the topic of Risk from Hebrews 11 for the past few weeks. Last Sunday night during our group meeting it was really encouraging to hear one member after another express their desire to step beyond just “playing it safe.” Whether it was realizing the boredom and monotony of living a “safe” life or the challenge to take risks to pursue their God-given dreams, it was really cool to see God move in all of us.
As Mark Batterson once said, “Too many of us are tentatively playing the game of life as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death.” None of us want to live that way. We don’t want to be guilty of making the grandstands of mediocrity the place where we watch God use other people while we sit on our hands because we’re too afraid to act. As we’ve studied Hebrews 11, here’s a few things we’ve learned in our journey together:
- God can use anyone who is willing to take risks…even a prostitute named Rahab (Hebrews 11).
- “God ordained dreams die because we aren’t willing to do something that seems illogical.” Mark Batterson
- Risk-taking can feel like test-taking. Risk is always accompanied by the unknown (consider Abraham when God called him to sacrifice Isaac)
- Risk-taking always requires a “great exchange.” Moses exchanged power and privilege for God’s purpose. He exchanged the security of Egypt’s wealth for the payoff of Israel’s exodus. On this side of the exchange we find comfort and security. On the other side of the exchange we find fulfilled dreams and a life of obedience.
- Noah’s risk-taking led to intimacy with God. Our risk-taking should do the same. (Hebrews 11:7, The Message)
- “The greatest gap in life is the one between knowing and doing.” Dick Biggs
- Risk requires action–beware of “inaction” regrets. Over the course of one week, action regrets outweigh inaction regrets 53% to 47%. But over the course of an entire lifetime, regrets of inaction far outnumber regrets of action–84% to 16%.
- Our tendency is to think that God’s plan starts and ends with us. We are so focused on our personal potential and objectives that we often forget that we are one piece of a much larger puzzle.
