OMTL Day 6: Risking greatness

Pondering risk, trust, and faith?  Photo--wordpress.com

Monkey Bars: Risking Greatness

“A ship is safe in a harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.” William Shedd

Consider this question as we venture into the areas of risk and trust: How many people did you tell (outside of the small group that you may be a part of) that you were taking the One Month to Live 30 day challenge?

Kerry Shook describes an incident with his young son. The boy was on the monkey bars and wanted his father to get him down. He told him to just let go and that he would catch him. The boy held on until he was exhausted, not trusting that his father would catch him. When he could hold on no longer, he let go and landed in his father’s arms.

It is a good illustration not just of trust but of our trust, obedience, and faith in our heavenly father.

The make it count moment for this day is: 

What are you holding on to right now that you need to let go of in order to move forward in your life?

What keeps you from trusting that God will catch you?

The devotion for this day also takes a look at the parable of the talents. Two servants took what their master had given them and put it to work. There was risk involved, but they knew to please their master, they must take some risk. To gain something, they must risk something. 

The third servant was ruled by fear and buried his talent in the ground. His master was very displeased.

We all have different proclivities towards risk, but God doesn’t want us living our lives so protected from the world that we never really live. All three servants had to deal with the fear of failure. Two understood that they had been given their talents in accordance with their abilities and were expected to produce in accordance with their abilities.

How many times do we sell our abilities short? Whether it is a Spiritual Gift, natural talent, acquired skill, financial resource, or something else that is unique about us; we are expected to use what God gave us—regardless of what we might call it—to produce good fruit for our Master.

Again, to the question:  How often do we sell ourselves short?

Is it really that we doubt ourselves or that we doubt God?

Take a brief self inventory. On a scale of 1 (least) to 10 (most), rate yourself on the areas of your life where you are most likely to take a risk.

Professional

Personal

Relational

Spiritual

Let’s get a little more general. Rate yourself in these two areas of your life.

Secular

Spiritual

 

Risk is an interesting study. While we really only have one life—that includes our secular, spiritual, relational, professional, private, public, and yet undiscovered selves; we probably found that we do differentiate on where we are willing to take risks.

Some people look at risk with regard to what they might gain. Some see only what they might lose. Some see both clearly, but still have a personal tendency to one or the other.

Here’s the thing about risk. When God says trust him, there is no risk. There is only an issue of trust.

Here are Chris and Kerry’s make it last for life challenges for today.

1.        Make a list of the items, resources, gifts, and opportunities entrusted to you. Beside each item on the list, identify how you came by it (e.g. born with it, given to you, worked for it, etc.). Next jot down how you think God wants you to invest each of the items on your list and how you can [or are] pursuing these investments.

2.       Identify a time when you felt disappointed by God. How did He not come through in the way you wanted? How did this affect your relationship with him and trust in him? Now spend some time in prayer relating this disappointment and ask God to help you to trust him more.

3.       Write down one risk that God is calling you to take in your life—a step of trust and faith that you believe he wants you to take right now. Jot down the worst case scenario if you were to take the risk and fail. Now pray that God will help you face your fears so that you can do what He is calling you to do.