Risk is More than a Leap

As I have been applying this challenge of Risk this year, I have found myself more willing to leap out into adventures God has for me more.  Some of these risks have been talking to a friend about Jesus, practicing stillness before God and even inviting a total stranger to church that I met at the supermarket.

It has been a rush to take a leap into sometimes shark-infested waters that God has brought me to as I have seen that He is there to make sure I never fall (at least too hard).  I can see that I am getting braver when it comes to this kind of risk.

However, although I have gotten better at this, I have also discovered that there is another even more significant risk God has challenged me to take.  You see, it is one thing to jump off the boat into shark-infested waters, but an even more significant risk to keep swimming through them after I have jumped.  I guess what I am saying is that risk is more than just as leap into God’s adventure, but also the determination to faithfully continue in the adventure.

This is why I am drawn to the apostle Peter.  He was a risk-taker.  No follower of Jesus in the Bible took more leaps of risk than he did.  He left his livelihood to go with Jesus, he got out of the boat to walk to Jesus on the water, he asked questions that the other disciples no doubt had but were afraid to ask and he made dramatic statements of devotion to Jesus.  

It is really cool that he risked where no one else would have.  Granted many times when he did leap he fell flat on his face:  he lost faith when walking on water, asked some really “out there” questions and even denied Jesus right after claiming undying allegiance to Him.

While all of this is true, the one aspect that inspires me about Peter is that, despite his failures, He kept going.  He continued in his risk-taking.  Even after he denied Jesus, he continued to pledge allegiance to Jesus and because he continued, he experienced life as a Spirit-empowered evangelist and effective witness for Jesus to countless people.

Sometimes I find it easier to leap into shark infested waters than to swim in them.  Single risks can be easier to take.  I mean I can share Christ with a total stranger, I may never see them again, so why not leap?  But it is much more of a risk to live Jesus before my neighbors who see me every day.  That risk takes endurance.

This risk of endurance in Jesus may not be as spectacular as taking great stands for Jesus or acts of great honesty with God, but enduring in risks leave a more lasting impact not only on the world around us, but also in my trust in a God who that promises to be with me wherever we go. 

So, as you go about you week, leap, but keep swimming!

Risking in My Relationships with Others - Pt. 2

Last week we ended with the question of, “How do we develop these relationships?”  Basically, by “these relationships,” I mean relationships that are genuine marked by mutual growth, selflessness and safety. You can read part 1 of this blog if you want to dig further. 

So, how exactly can we develop these kinds of relationships?

Well, it takes risk.  It takes for us step out to trust others with who we are.  It takes us to keep at it even when we may get burned knowing that it is a process and takes time to develop.

Here are just a few ways that we can risk in developing genuine, healthy relationships:

Walking in Grace

Grace is a gift that God gives to us.  It is in essence Him giving something good to us what we do not deserve.  God’s grace makes us acceptable to God.  When it comes to our relationships with those we know, grace offers acceptance to each other.

When we walk in grace, we make that relationship a safe place.  It makes it safe by allowing the person to feel that you will not judge them or think them any less for what they have done or said.  Many times we do not last in relationships because we do not feel accepted by another.  Or, we may never grow because we feel intimidated to share ourselves.  Now think how different it could be if you knew that the other person would accept you even with your faults or mess-ups. 

This all begins when we take the risk of extending grace to another.  We make ourselves safe for a person to be themselves with us.  This may mean that we carry some heavy stuff that another shares, but grace means that we love them through it. 

When grace abounds in a relationship, it becomes very safe place to be who we really are.  This grace for relationships springs from the application of grace in our relationship with God:

Colossians 3:13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

So we can risk by walking in grace, which helps mark our relationships with safety, serving as a place to be open and honest.

Living with Humility

At the heart of humility is a realization that we are not the “end-all, be-all.”  As relationships grow and we are open with each other, it can be tempting to look down on another person taking a higher view of ourselves.

Humility allows us to extend understanding to each other.  When we live in humility we stand with someone rather than look down on them because we realize that we have things that are not perfect as well.

Humility helps us stand with someone in the midst of trials, helping them for their sake, not looking to ourselves.  Paul notes this in speaking of how we can help bear each other’s burdens:

Galatians 6:2-3 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. ³ For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

Just as grace with others reflects God’s grace with us, humility cannot be risked if it has not been formed in a trusting relationship with God. When we see ourselves in light of God, it will keep us humble.

Humility brings the mark of selflessness to relationships as we look not to ourselves worrying about what we receive but about what we can give.  It allows us to be patient with a person as they work through things and looks for their best.

Giving out Encouragement

Encouragement brings out the best in others.  It is a way of challenging others to keep going, make a change, and even take a risk for themselves.  When we risk this in relationship, we are basically speaking the truth in a positive way. 

In my relationships I have received encouragement by having a friend speak truth into my life:  many times it was to lift me up but other times it was in the form of correction, but when it comes from one who is humble (selfless) and gracious it is a positive because I know it is offered with love and for my best.

Proverbs 27:6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

We can also risk by being encouraged.  When we open ourselves for correction in a relationship, we can grow from it rather than being destroyed by it.  Encouragement helps another person become better.  It allows us to help each other grow.  The writer of Hebrew touches on this:

Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Encouragement is incredibly powerful and helps mark a relationship with mutual growth as you can help bring out the best in each other.

Relationships with those around you can be scary, but they can also be amazing.  They can help us live out God’s adventure for us providing safety, selflessness and mutual growth to our lives.  When we risk ourselves with others, we will see our relationships deepen and take flight.

We can begin today; we can step out of our comfort zone and begin risking ourselves with others.  We can step out with grace, humility and encouragement. 

Risking in My Relationships with Others - Pt. 1

So, how was your week risking yourself with God?  I hope that you had a chance to allow God to search the depths of who you are.  I will tell you that as I have done this my relationship with God has been more alive and more real feeling a “closeness” with God.

As Jesus shared in the great commandment, we are called to a genuine and loving relationship with God, but we are also called to this with others.  You may feel that you are able to have a close relationship with God, but are freaked out when it comes to being open and trusting in relationships with people.

I know for me, it has been a real journey developing healthy genuine and loving relationships with those around me.  Over my life I have had a lot of friends who I would share interests or even experiences, but I have struggled to trust them with me leading to relationships where I could let my guard down and have them do that with me.

I‘ve tried, but there have been many times where I have opened up only to have a person break my trust, let me down or even not reciprocate the friendship.  I have been burned and it has been a learning experience.  It hurts and had made me want to just not open myself to others.

Over the last 4-5 years this has changed however, slowly I have found relationships where I can be authentic and reflect God’s love.  As I look back, I know what has made the difference.  First, I have learned to risk myself with God like we spoke of last week.  In trusting God with who I am, I began to see my worth and value in Him, freeing me from finding my worth or identity in others.  Secondly, this freedom and sense of God-given identity has then allowed me to risk myself in relationships with those around me.

It can be easy to say, “Yeh, that’s great for you, but I have been burned in friendships one too many times.  Every time I try to open myself up it is a disaster.  Either I am judged for it and looked down on or I am ignored.”  Like I said, I have been there.

God did not create us to be loners, He created us for relationships, it’s in our DNA.  In fact, God and Adam had a relationship, but then God created Eve for relationship among people.  We were created as relational beings 1^st with God then with others.

So, if we are to be in relationships, and maybe you desire to be real relationships but you may not know what to look for.  Here’s what the writer of Ecclesiastes says:

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12  Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. ¹⁰ For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! ¹¹ Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? ¹² And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken. 

As we look at this, we find three marks of real relationships:

Mutual Growth

“Two are better than one”

Friends help each other be their best.  They lift each other up. 

In your relationships, do you look to make the other person all they can be?

Selflessness

“How can one keep warm alone?”

Friends help each other; they look to the other person’s interest above their own.

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends.

Love is love because it is selfless.

Safety

“two will withstand him.”

A true friend has your back.  They are there to help protect you from others and even yourself.

A friend also makes your relationship as safe place to be yourself.

Growth, Selflessness and safety…I know for me they are really appealing.  I mean don’t you want to have your relationships marked with this?  Think of the confidence you will have to follow the adventure God has for you knowing that someone is supporting and standing with you as God shapes you.

How do we get there though?  How do we develop these relationships? 

Check back next week as we continue our discussion.

Risking Myself with God

We can only risk ourselves or step out of our comfort zone and into God’s great adventure when we are trusting in His mission for us, His faithfulness to us and His power through us.

Last week we also introduced our mission reflected in Jesus great commandment and that mission is to step out into genuine and loving relationships with God and others.

So, where do we begin?  What is our first way that we can risk in this mission? 

Well, if we desire to step out into these genuine, loving relationships with God and others, then it begins with stepping out first with God.

I would like to share with you a couple of risks we can take when it comes to our relationship with God.  The first risk is:

To know God

In addition to knowing about Him we can actively know Him. We can risk by being fully engaged in knowing Him.  This means we risk by seeking to experience His character.

If God is love, don’t just read about it, but get out there and live in the light of His love with confidence and stability.  If He is forgiveness, walk in it and live in freedom and acceptance

So as we embark on our challenge, we can risk by boldly engaging our everyday lives in knowing God.  Just as David we can commit to see God at work in every aspect of our lives.

So, knowing God is risky, but we are not done yet.  Our relationship with God can get even more risky.  A second huge risk we can take in our relationship with God is:

To be known by God

In Psalm 139, David speaks of knowing God.  He speaks of knowing God’s knowledge of him, presence with him and power through him.  At the end of the Psalm David invites God to know him.

Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! ²⁴ And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

Now David already knew David just as He knows us.  He knows our struggles, our fears, and our joys.  So, why should we invite God to know us? 

We should do this so that we can be ourselves with Him as then we both will know us. 

Risking God to know us lets us passionately be ourselves with Him and get things out.  It will lead to healing, to hope, to confidence and peace, but most of all it will draw us closer to God making it easier for us to come to Him honestly and passionately again.

Maybe you are in a dark place, a place where you don’t feel like anyone is there for you and no one understands – let God know.  Maybe you are doubting that God has a plan for you and that He has forgotten about you – let Him know.  Maybe you are afraid, afraid of what He is calling you to do or afraid of what you see ahead – let Him know. 

When we risk ourselves with God, risk ourselves to know and be known by Him, we free ourselves to step out in healthy relationships with others.  That is our risk next week.